Four-time World Rally Champion, Frenchman Sebastien Loeb has won the 2008 Rally Finland and with it, the 42nd WRC victory of his career.
In an event which is historically dominated by local drivers, Loeb becomes only the fourth non Scandinavian to win the event since it was first run in 1951.
At the finish control a delighted Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena climbed onto the roof of their Citroen C4 WRC and waved a French national flag.
A maximum 10 points moves Loeb closer his rival Mikko Hirvonen in the 2008 drivers' championship although he remains in second place, one point adrift of the Finn.
Finland's Hirvonen brought his Ford Focus RS over the finish line in second, just 9.9 sec slower than Loeb after 340 kilometres of furious, high speed competition.
A delighted Chris Atkinson was third in his Subaru Impreza WRC2008 and moved ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala into third place in the drivers' championship.
Dani Sordo was fourth in the second C4 WRC, giving the Citroen Total team 15 more points in the manufacturers' contest and moving them up to new total of 105 - just 3 short of series leaders the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. Rounding out the top five was Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Henning Solberg.
Rally Finland - Final classification
1. Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) in 2h54''05'5
2. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus) + 9''
3. Chris Atkinson (Subaru Impreza) + 3'17
4. Dani Sordo (Citroën C4) + 3'30''9
5. Henning Solberg (Ford Focus Stobart) + 3'57''7
6. Petter Solberg (Subaru Impreza) + 4'04''1
7. Matti Rantanen (Ford Focus) + 6'11''1
8. Tony Gardemeister (Suzuki SX4) + 8'18''7
Etc.
Championship :
1.Hirvonen 67 points; 2.Loeb 66; 3.Atkinson 37; 4.Sordo 35; 5.Latvala 34; 6.P.Solberg 23; 7.H.Solberg 20; 8.Galli 17; 9.Wilson 12; 10.Villagra 8, etc.
In an event which is historically dominated by local drivers, Loeb becomes only the fourth non Scandinavian to win the event since it was first run in 1951.
At the finish control a delighted Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena climbed onto the roof of their Citroen C4 WRC and waved a French national flag.
A maximum 10 points moves Loeb closer his rival Mikko Hirvonen in the 2008 drivers' championship although he remains in second place, one point adrift of the Finn.
Finland's Hirvonen brought his Ford Focus RS over the finish line in second, just 9.9 sec slower than Loeb after 340 kilometres of furious, high speed competition.
A delighted Chris Atkinson was third in his Subaru Impreza WRC2008 and moved ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala into third place in the drivers' championship.
Dani Sordo was fourth in the second C4 WRC, giving the Citroen Total team 15 more points in the manufacturers' contest and moving them up to new total of 105 - just 3 short of series leaders the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. Rounding out the top five was Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Henning Solberg.
Rally Finland - Final classification
1. Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) in 2h54''05'5
2. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus) + 9''
3. Chris Atkinson (Subaru Impreza) + 3'17
4. Dani Sordo (Citroën C4) + 3'30''9
5. Henning Solberg (Ford Focus Stobart) + 3'57''7
6. Petter Solberg (Subaru Impreza) + 4'04''1
7. Matti Rantanen (Ford Focus) + 6'11''1
8. Tony Gardemeister (Suzuki SX4) + 8'18''7
Etc.
Championship :
1.Hirvonen 67 points; 2.Loeb 66; 3.Atkinson 37; 4.Sordo 35; 5.Latvala 34; 6.P.Solberg 23; 7.H.Solberg 20; 8.Galli 17; 9.Wilson 12; 10.Villagra 8, etc.