Loeb closes on Gronholm

Sebastien Loeb took a major step toward clinching a fourth straight World Rally Championship drivers’ title after dominating Rally Ireland today.

The Citroen driver headed into the penultimate event of the season four points behind Marcus Gronholm – but he ruthlessly exploited the Finn’s crash yesterday to move 59.3 seconds ahead of team-mate Dani Sordo.

Loeb won all three stages in difficult conditions this morning before adding another after lunch to make it four out of six for the day.

With third-placed Jari-Matti Latvala’s Stobart Ford more than two minutes behind the Frenchman with just tomorrow’s stages remaining, it would appear only an uncharacteristic error or mechanical failure can prevent Loeb from entering the season-ending Rally of Great Britain with a six-point lead in the standings.

“Absolutely no problems, a perfect day,” Loeb told www.autosport.com.

“We are in the lead, with a good lead. The car is going perfectly and we really had no mistakes today and no risks.”

Earlier today, Gronholm refused to give up in the title race after seeing Loeb take control in his absence.

BP Ford’s Gronholm hit a wall in the fourth stage yesterday near Sligo while running third behind the Citroens of Loeb and Sordo.

He was taken to hospital for medical checks, although both he and co-driver Timo Rautianinen were released hours later.

And Gronholm admitted: “It will be hard to lift the drivers’ championship if Sebastien Loeb wins this weekend, but there are a lot of kilometres remaining here and on the final round in Great Britain, so I’m not giving up yet.”

Of his crash yesterday, he added: “The accident happened near the finish on a wide, right corner.

“I braked for the bend but it was extremely slippery and the car skated off the road. I managed to turn it sideways before hitting a stone wall hard.

“It was a big impact because the car stopped immediately. Both wheels on my side of the car were pulled off.

“We were taken to hospital where we were both given a scan but that showed no problems. My neck is sore but otherwise I’m okay.”

Britain’s Guy Wilks is on course for a creditable sixth-place finish in his independent Subaru, standing more than three and a half minutes ahead of Matthew Wilson in seventh.