French rally driver Sebastien Loeb marked the 10th anniversary of Rallye Deutschland's elevation to the FIA World Rally Championship by winning the asphalt event for a ninth time in the Citroen DS3 WRC he shares with co-driver Daniel Elena.
Loeb won the opening stage on Friday morning to take a lead he would never relinquish following a dominant display in changeable weather conditions. He beat Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala and his Citroen teammate Mikko Hirvonen to claim his seventh victory of 2012.
“It was a hard rally, the conditions were extremely difficult, which meant I had some very difficult tire choices to make,” said the 38-year-old Frenchman, who claimed a total of nine stage wins during the course of the three-day event.
“We had a good drive, a perfect car and I made no mistake. Winning the Power Stage also meant this was a perfect weekend. I also had a lot of support from the fans.”
Loeb won the opening stage on Friday morning to take a lead he would never relinquish following a dominant display in changeable weather conditions. He beat Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala and his Citroen teammate Mikko Hirvonen to claim his seventh victory of 2012.
“It was a hard rally, the conditions were extremely difficult, which meant I had some very difficult tire choices to make,” said the 38-year-old Frenchman, who claimed a total of nine stage wins during the course of the three-day event.
“We had a good drive, a perfect car and I made no mistake. Winning the Power Stage also meant this was a perfect weekend. I also had a lot of support from the fans.”