WATERFORD’S Craig Breen (Fiesta S2000) made the best possible start to his SWRC title challenge with a category victory in the Monte Carlo Rally that was won by Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb.

EVEN though Sebastien Loeb (Citroen DS3) leads the Monte Carlo Rally by a considerable margin, the world champion is taking nothing for granted given the vagaries of the weather and road conditions.

WITH five out of six fastest stage times, Sebastien Loeb (Citroen DS3) extended his overall lead in the Monte Carlo Rally to a minute and 37.2 seconds as the battle for second between Dani Sordo (MINI WRC) and Petter Solberg (Fiesta WRC) hotted up.

THE World Rally Championship gets underway next week with the Monte Carlo Rally and according to Corkman Gerard Quinn, winning the manufacturers’ title remains the holy grail while having the world champion driver is also a tantalising prospect.

BRIDGING a 25-year gap, Midleton’s Daragh O’Riordan (29) became the first Cork driver since Billy Coleman to win the Silver Springs Moran Hotel/Orchard Motorsport Cork “20 International Rally.

NORWAY’s Petter Solberg and Irish co-driver, Chris Patterson begin today’s second stage of the Neste Oil Rally Finland in first position after setting the fastest time on last evening’s opening stage.

CHRIS PATTERSON (41) will be the new partner for Norwegian driver Petter Solberg in the World Rally Championship. Early last month, Phil Mills, Solberg’s regular co-driver, stepped down from his role with the flamboyant Norwegian, who has 152 WRC starts including 13 wins and one world title.

Championship leader Sebastien Loeb has warned he will not be taking anything for granted at the New Zealand Rally this weekend despite completing a hat-trick of wins last time out.

Dani Sordo was the man to catch after the first day of the Rally Argentina after he won a thrilling battle with Mikko Hirvonen and Sebastien Loeb on the opening leg.

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb increased his advantage in the Cyprus Rally by eight seconds after claiming another stage victory on the gravel roads around Limassol today.

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

Mikko Hirvonen reclaimed his spot at the top of the World Rally Championship standings today as Ford secured a one-two finish ahead of Citroen's Sebastien Loeb in Turkey.

FORD’S Finnish duo Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala gifted the lead to Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb at the end of the first leg of the Rally of Turkey in a tactical ploy to ensure the Frenchman starts first on day two.

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.

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

Belgium’s Francois Duval stunned the rest of the field as he surged to the top of the leaderboard on day one of the Rally Germany.

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.

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.

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 gave Ford their first victory in the British forests for 27 years today as he became the most successful Finnish world rally driver of all time.

Petter Solberg’s hopes of a fifth consecutive Wales Rally GB victory suffered a major blow today.

Finland's Marcus Gronholm finished the second day of Rally Turkey with a comfortable lead after Petter Solberg crashed out late in the afternoon.

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

Sebastien Loeb dominated the first day of Rally Germany to leave the world champion closing in on his sixth win of the season.

Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb finished day one of the Rally Argentina with a narrow lead over Subaru’s Petter Solberg.

World champion Sebastien Loeb dominated day two of the Rally Mexico, winning seven of the eight stages to establish a 37.7 seconds lead over Petter Solberg.

Marcus Gronholm received the perfect birthday present today when he held off Sebastien Loeb to win the Swedish Rally and extend his lead in the world championship.

SEBASTIEN LOEB is predicting a flat-out scrap with world championship rival Marcus Gronholm in a snowy Swedish Rally this weekend.

Colin McRae has sets his sights on a repeat performance after finishing a surprising third on the first day of Rally Australia.

Sebastien Loeb is cruising towards his 10th win of the season after dominating the first day of Rally Catalunya.

Sebastien Loeb capped a “perfect season” by clinching the world championship with second place on Rally Japan today.

World champion elect Sebastien Loeb is cruising towards his first Wales Rally GB win after nearest rival Petter Solberg admitted he is powerless to match the Frenchman’s relentless pace.

Sebastian Loeb claimed victory in the OMV ADAC Rally in Germany to move a step closer to defending his World Rally Championship title.

PEUGEOT driver Marcus Gronholm finally ended Sebastien Loeb’s World Rally Championship dominance as he claimed victory on home territory in the Rally Finland yesterday.

Marcus Gronholm and Sebastien Loeb were separated by just 5.8 seconds after an exhilarating opening day of Rally Finland.

World champion Sebastien Loeb has warned his rivals he has no intention of dropping the pace after setting a new record with victory on the Rally Argentina, his sixth consecutive triumph.

Reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb edged closer to his third-successive rally victory as he ended day one of the Cyprus Rally at the top of the leader board.

Sebastien Loeb moved a step closer to victory on Rally Italia this morning by cementing his comfortable advantage over world championship rival Petter Solberg.

Sebastien Loeb got his world championship defence back on track with a comfortable victory in Rally New Zealand.

Subaru driver Petter Solberg went top of the World Rally Championship standings after driving to victory in this weekend’s Rally Mexico.

Petter Solberg has a lead of 29.6seconds after the second day of the Rally Mexico.

Petter Solberg set the early pace in the Rally Mexico as the Subaru driver topped the times after the first two stages yesterday.