Loeb wins in Donegal.
Sebastien Loeb has secured victory on the Donegal Rally after the Citroen Sport team elected to take part in the event as part of preparations for Rally Ireland later in the season.
Despite it being the middle of summer, the team were greeted by somewhat wintry conditions with low temperatures and rain giving the team the perfect chance to collect important information about the set-up of the Citroen C4 on the Irish tarmac stages.
Sebastien Loeb has secured victory on the Donegal Rally after the Citroen Sport team elected to take part in the event as part of preparations for Rally Ireland later in the season.
Despite it being the middle of summer, the team were greeted by somewhat wintry conditions with low temperatures and rain giving the team the perfect chance to collect important information about the set-up of the Citroen C4 on the Irish tarmac stages.
The first leg included six special stages and the local drivers benefited from their knowledge of the terrain and of the weather while Loeb did his best to learn the challenge stages.
Careful work from the team paid off and after three stages of leg two, Loeb took a lead he would retain until the finish on Sunday. Back at parc ferme on Saturday evening, Loeb already had a 40 second lead and he increased it to two minutes on the final day to take victory from Mark Higgins and Eugene Donnelly.
"It was a very good exercise," he said. "I am delighted with our week end and with the work we've achieved to prepare the Ireland Rally. We now have a very good idea of the type of terrain we will find in November as well as in which direction we need to work for the settings.
"On my side, I familiarised with those fast, narrow and bumpy stages and with this very special type of tarmac. The level of competition made our coming even more interesting and gave us some good reference. Daniel and I would also like to thank the organisers for the way they hosted us, as well as pay a tribute to the huge number of spectators who have followed us throughout the weekend despite the wet weather. It was great to see as much enthusiasm around the rally. It was a popular event and a real party."
Donegal Rally final leaderboard:
1. Loeb/Elena Citroen C4 2h 48m 38.3s
2. Higgins/Kennedy Subaru Impreza+2m 07s
3. Donnelly/Kiely Subaru Impreza WRC +5m 44.9s
4. Harris/O'Donnell Toyota Corolla WRC +10m 36,1s
5. Elliott/Goodman Subaru S11 +12m 55.6s
6. Leonard/McVeigh Mitsubishi Evo 9 +16 min 21.9s
