FROM a season where little went wrong, culminating with victory in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle, the current defence of their crown is proving almost the total opposite.

As expected, five times World rally champion Sebastien Loeb has brought his Citroen C4 to victory in Rally Ireland today.

The second day of Rally Ireland was yet another display of domination from rally leader, Sebastien Loeb (Citroen C4 WRC).

Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala held a 12.9-second lead at the end of an action-packed opening day of the Wales Rally GB, as hail, sleet, ice and torrential rain caused major problems for the World Rally Championship fraternity.

Sebastien Loeb captured a record-breaking fifth straight World Rally Championship drivers' title today by finishing third at the Rally of Japan.

Mikko Hirvonen held onto the Rally Japan lead on Saturday, but conceded his world championship bid is virtually over after Sebastien Loeb remained on course for crown after holding onto third place.

Sebastien Loeb reclaimed the lead in the World Rally Championship after clinching his seventh consecutive Rally Germany crown today.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb edged closer to the top of the World Rally drivers' standings after holding off a valiant fightback by BP Ford duo Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala to win the Rally of Italy.

Reigning world rally champion Sebastien Loeb maintained his grip on the Italian Rally with some controlled driving on the second day.

BP Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen reclaimed the lead in the World Rally Championship after posting his first win of the season at the inaugural event in Jordan.

A sequence of unlikely events conspired to keep Citroen’s Dani Sordo at the head of the Jordan Rally standings at the end of day two.

Reigning four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb recovered from a difficult start to the Jordan Rally today to sit ominously just one second off the lead at the end of the first leg.

Sebastien Loeb remained on course for a fourth consecutive victory at the Rally Argentina, winning three of the nine stages on Saturday to put his Citroen nearly 80 seconds clear of second-placed Petter Solberg.

Sebastien Loeb took control on day one of the Rally Argentina, taking a one-and-a-half minute lead over Chris Atkinson after championship leader Mikko Hirvonen crashed.

Defending world rally champion Sebastien Loeb opened up a lead of more than a minute at Rally Mexico today and is four stages away from recording a second win of the season.

SEBASTIEN LOEB sent out an ominous message on the first full day of the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally by establishing a 56-second lead over his nearest rival.

Sebastien Loeb sent out an ominous message on the first full day of the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally by establishing a 56-second lead over his nearest rival.

Sebastien Loeb wrested the initiative in the World Rally Championship title race from Marcus Gronholm with victory in Rally Ireland.

Sebastien Loeb is set for victory at the French Rally after dominating the second day in Corsica.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb will go into the final day of the Rally Catalunya holding a comfortable lead.

Marcus Gronholm retained leadership of the World Rally Championship with his fifth Rally New Zealand win.

Reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb won a record-breaking sixth consecutive Rally Germany title to cut the gap in the race for the championship.

Reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb is on course for a record-breaking sixth consecutive Rally Germany crown after establishing a 37.8-second lead ahead of the final day.

Marcus Gronholm was victorious on home soil as he won a seventh Rally Finland title to extend his FIA World Rally Championship lead to 13 points.

Marcus Gronholm stands on the verge of a record seventh victory on home soil after a dominant display alongside Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen in the Rally Finland on Saturday.

FIA World Rally Championship leader Marcus Gronholm was in imperious form on day one of Rally Finland in Jyvaskyla on Friday.

Marcus Gronholm strengthened his grip on the World Rally Championship by winning Rally Greece.

Ford's Marcus Gronholm has a 44-second lead over World Rally Championship title rival Sebastien Loeb heading into the final day of the Greek round.

World Rally Championship leader Marcus Gronholm grabbed Rally Greece by the scruff of the neck to head the pack at the end of day one on Friday.

World Championship leader Sebastien Loeb hit the front of the Rally Sardinia at the end of the first leg after spending much of the day running down the order.

Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb secured his third successive World Rally Championship triumph after easing to victory at the Rally Argentina today.

World Champion Sebastien Loeb took full advantage of Petter Solberg’s misfortune to lead by almost half a minute on day one of the Rally Mexico.

Marcus Gronholm cut Sebastien Loeb’s World Rally Championship lead to two points with victory in the Swedish round of the series.

WORLD Rally champion Sebastien Loeb had to fend off Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo as he opened his defence of the crown in Monaco.

A POOR tyre choice cost former World Rally champion Colin McRae a top four spot on the opening day of the Rally of Turkey.

MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi has entered the Rally New Zealand, the penultimate round of the world championship, which takes place next month.

Sebastien Loeb clung on for a record-breaking victory in the Rally of Japan despite a thrilling fightback from Marcus Gronholm this morning.

Marcus Gronholm edged out a slight lead on Rally Argentina with a consistent display on the first full day of the event.

Rally Ireland has been won by Eugene Donnelly and Paul Kiely.

Midway through Rally Ireland, the Irish bid for qualification for the World Rally Championship, Gareth MacHale and co-driver Paul Nagle in a Ford Focus WRC hold a 47.8 second lead over the Toyota Corolla WRC of Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely.

Sixty-nine entries have been received for Rally Ireland 2006, Ireland’s bid for qualification for a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).

Marcus Gronholm ended Sebastien Loeb’s winning streak on the Monte Carlo Rally today to take an early lead in the world championship.

World champion Sebastien Loeb completed a clean sweep of stage wins on the Monte Carlo Rally today but he was left needing a stroke of luck to keep his Principality winning streak alive.

World champion Sebastien Loeb’s bid for a fourth consecutive Monte Carlo Rally win was thrown off course by a heavy accident on stage six today.