CYPRUS WIN MAKES IT THREE IN A ROW FOR CITROËN
19 May 2005 - Citroën UK Ltd

An imperious drive by defending world champion Sébastien Loeb in his Citroën Xsara WRC secured a convincing win in the Cyprus Rally this weekend, giving Loeb and Citroën a winning hat trick in their defence of the team and drivers world championships.

Loeb’s dominance of the event was reflected in setting the fastest time on 12 of the 18 special stages, leading the rally from Special Stage 2 to the end and bringing the Xsara home over 4 minutes quicker than second place man, privateer Manfred Stohl driving a Team Kronus Citroën Xsara.

Loeb’s fourth maximum point score of the season has lifted his lead in the 2005 drivers championship to 11 points, whilst Citroën now lie just nine points behind Peugeot in the race for the manufacturers crown.

Loeb’s four wins this season, with ten rounds still to compete, means he is on track to beat the record six wins he secured on the way to last seasons championship win.

''It’s very good to have scored three wins a row. It proves the strength of the Xsara, something that will be very important with the gravel rallies in Turkey and Greece to come. It was amazing here in Cyprus, on very tough roads, that we had not one single mechanical problem'' said Loeb.

Final classification of Cyprus Rally 2005

S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën Xsara) 5 h 02 min 29,4 s
M. Stohl/I. Minor (Citroën Xsara) + 4 min 09,5 s
M. Märtin/M. Park (Peugeot 307) + 4 min 41,9 s
H. Solberg/C. Menkerud (Ford Focus) + 5 min 15,7 s
T. Gardemeister/J. Honkanen (Ford Focus) + 7 min 37,3 s
R. Kresta/J. Mozny (Ford Focus) + 10 min 17,4 s
H. Rovanperä/R. Pietilainen (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 12 min 18,7 s
D. Carlsson/M. Andersson (Peugeot 206) + 16 min 03,2 s
FIA World Rally Championship after round 6 - Manufacturers

1. Peugeot, 62 points – 2. Citroën, 53 pts - 3. Ford, 44 pts – 4. Subaru, 38 pts – 5. Mitsubishi, 29 pts - 6. Škoda, 8 pts.

FIA World Rally Championship after round 6 - Drivers

1 S. Loeb, 45 pts – 2. P. Solberg, 34 points - 3. M. Märtin, 34 pts – 4. T. Gardemeister, 28 pts - 5. M. Grönholm, 26 pts – 6. H. Rovanperä, 13 pts - 7. M. Stohl, 11 pts - 8. H. Solberg, 9 pts - 9. R. Kresta, 8 pts – 10. G. Panizzi, 7 pts

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