The third leg of the event featured a loop of two stages to be covered twice. However, with a
total competitive distance of 85.66km, the day was no jaunt and was packed with potential
hazards that could by no means be taken lightly. Despite the respective leads of Seb (43.6s)
and Dani (30.7s) over their closest chaser yesterday evening, both Citroeon crews took the final
day of the season's twelfth round extremely seriously.
"We continued at the same pace as yesterday," explains Sébastien Loeb. "Today's stages
were 16 and 26km, so they were quite long and it was crucial to stay concentrated. I made a
point of not taking any risks, not cutting the corners too much and lifting over the dirtier
portions. Running on hard compound dry weather BFGoodrich tyres, our Citroeon C4 WRC ran
like clockwork and I am very happy to have won."
As sunny weather moved in over the Costa Daurada region, the day was a resounding
success for Spain's Dani Sordo/Marc Martí, too. "Having to manage our position isn't the most
exciting or easiest of tasks" related Dani. "Even so, we still had fun today again. We have
finished ahead of Groonholm and I am delighted to have met the target we were set..."
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena posted five fastest times on their way to securing their 34th world
class win. "The most important thing for me," says Seb, "was to make up some of the gap that
separates us from Groonholm in the championship. Despite the constantly changing grip and
the fickle weather on Friday, we ended up winning. On top of that, Dani Sordo put in a great
run to finish just behind us, which means we go away with four more points than Marcus. Our
C4 WRC was once again extremely competitive on asphalt and that's encouraging for Corsica
next weekend."
Dani Sordo was acclaimed by his home crowd and very much in demand throughout the
weekend, so he was understandably beaming after this afternoon's podium ceremony. "We
had quite a lot of pressure on our shoulders before the start," he admits. "Everyone was
expecting us to score a strong result and we were very fired to do our best to finish ahead of
Groonholm. We managed to achieve our goal and our C4 was awesomely competitive in all the
different conditions we faced. I even led a World Rally Championship round for the first time!
That's a great sign going into the next round which is once again on asphalt."
"We started the Rally Catalunya with the objective of finishing first and second, and that's what
we've done. I'm obviously delighted," concludes Guy Fréquelin. "The remarkable thing,
however, is the way we achieved today's result. Once again, the C4 showed how strong it is on
sealed surfaces and everyone at Citroeon Sport put in a fantastic job. We came through all the
potential pitfalls and made some top tyre choices which put both crews in an ideal position.
Seb and Daniel dominated while Dani and Marc put in a superb run that was both fast and
intelligent. We now need to repeat all this again next week in Corsica, but we are all fired up to
do just that..."
Pos Driver Car Time
1. Loeb Citroen 3h22:50.5
2. Sordo Citroen + 13.8
3. Gronholm Ford + 39.8
4. Hirvonen Ford + 1:25.8
5. Duval Citroen + 2:28.7
6. Solberg Subaru + 2:54.1
7. Latvala Ford + 3:38.2
8. Atkinson Subaru + 4:22.4
9. Pons Subaru + 5:04.1
10. Solberg Ford + 10:32.2
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