Loeb sets up title showdown

Loeb: Crucial win

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Sebastien Loeb won the Rally of Spain for a fifth consecutive year to set-up a mouth-watering world championship showdown with Mikko Hirvonen.

The Frenchman finished 12 seconds ahead of Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo to close the gap at the top of the title standings to a single point heading into the final round.

The one-two finish means that Citroen cannot be caught in the constructors' championship, securing a second straight title for the team.

Hirvonen, who had been victorious in the last four events, ended the rally 54 seconds behind Loeb in third place and saw his narrow points lead all-but erased in the process.

Easy

Sordo had led his home event for much of the first two days but team-mate Loeb eventually came through to take a long-awaited victory.

The five-time world champion admitted that Citroen's advantage was so clear that the two drivers could afford to ease off in the closing stages.

"This one was tough because Dani was pushing very hard at the start, so we tried to fight, but we knew we must not make any mistakes just fighting together - it was so important for us to finish," Loeb told the WRC's official website.

"It was really a pleasure to drive again on tarmac, for me it's been a long time since we did it. And the result now should be perfect, I'm really happy, I enjoyed it a lot."

Hirvonen and Loeb will battle it out for the championship at the Rally of Great Britain on October 23-25.

Result:
1 Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen 3hrs 22mins 14.700secs,
2 Daniel Sordo (Spa) Citroen 3:22:26.700,
3 Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 3:23:08.800,
4 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 3:23:27.100,
5 Sebastien Ogier (Fra) Citroen 3:23:56.300,
6 Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford 3:25:04.500,
7 Matthew Wilson (Gbr) Ford 3:29:30.200,
8 Federico Villagra (Arg) Ford 3:30:42.800,
9 Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford 3:31:22.300,
10 Dany Snobeck (Fra) Peugeot 3:33:10.700

Drivers Championship Standings:
1 Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 84pts,
2 Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen 83,
3 Daniel Sordo (Spa) Citroen 58,
4 Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford 39,
5 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 30,
6 Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford 29,
7 Matthew Wilson (Gbr) Ford 25,
8 Sebastien Ogier (Fra) Citroen 24,
9 Federico Villagra (Arg) Ford 16,
10 Conrad Rautenbach (Zim) Citroen 8

Manufacturers Championship Standings:
1 Citroen 151pts,
2 Ford 130,
3 Stobart 73,
4 Citroen Junior 42,
5 Munchi 23