Sebastien Loeb of Team Citroën and Jari-Matti Latvala of Team Ford have been the victims of serious crashes in the last rounds of the World Rally Championship.
World Rally leader Mikko Hirvonen of Ford has admitted he feels sympathy for Ford team director Malcolm Wilson following his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala's recent driving errors.
Latvala has been retained in the factory line-up for the Rally Finland despite crashing out of a certain second place behind Hirvonen on the rally-ending Super Special in Poland last week.
During the Rally of Portugal, Latvala had an enormous crash in which he rolled his Focus RS 14 times in a ditch (photo).
His last-moment crash in Poland left Hirvonen one rather than two points ahead of Loeb in the drivers' championship.
Meanwhile, World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb also had his share of problems.
He crashed heavily during the Rally of Greece, rolling his Citroën C4 several times, while he damaged the suspension of his C4 after hitting the tree stump in Poland.
Loeb clipped a tree stump with the right-front wheel of his Citroën. The car's suspension and steering was damaged sufficiently to stop the five-time champion on the spot.
After studying the data and the damaged parts, Loeb says he is still none the wiser about how such significant damage occurred.
"I continue to moan a bit because of this tree stump," he said. "Pains like that with the C4, I have had dozens and never a break, particularly in Greece or even in testing.
Loeb denied that his third problematic event in a row had made his chances of a sixth title more difficult, even though Hirvonen now holds the points’ lead.
photo:Citroën Racing & Ford
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| Jari-Matti Latvala's Ford RS WRC after his huge off in Portugal. |
World Rally leader Mikko Hirvonen of Ford has admitted he feels sympathy for Ford team director Malcolm Wilson following his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala's recent driving errors.
Latvala has been retained in the factory line-up for the Rally Finland despite crashing out of a certain second place behind Hirvonen on the rally-ending Super Special in Poland last week.
During the Rally of Portugal, Latvala had an enormous crash in which he rolled his Focus RS 14 times in a ditch (photo).
His last-moment crash in Poland left Hirvonen one rather than two points ahead of Loeb in the drivers' championship.
Meanwhile, World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb also had his share of problems.
He crashed heavily during the Rally of Greece, rolling his Citroën C4 several times, while he damaged the suspension of his C4 after hitting the tree stump in Poland.
Loeb clipped a tree stump with the right-front wheel of his Citroën. The car's suspension and steering was damaged sufficiently to stop the five-time champion on the spot.
After studying the data and the damaged parts, Loeb says he is still none the wiser about how such significant damage occurred.
"I continue to moan a bit because of this tree stump," he said. "Pains like that with the C4, I have had dozens and never a break, particularly in Greece or even in testing.
Loeb denied that his third problematic event in a row had made his chances of a sixth title more difficult, even though Hirvonen now holds the points’ lead.
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photo:Citroën Racing & Ford