The Frenchman won last...

The Frenchman won last weekend’s Rally Portugal, but with arch-rival Marcus Gronholm finishing second, the Citroen star was still two points adrift of the series lead. However, the Finn and his fellow Focus WRC runners were given a five-minute time penalty for infringing the regulations, when an official post-rally technical check discovered that the leading Fords were running illegal rear side windows. The decision dropped Gronholm from second to fourth position and, as a consequence, allowed Loeb to move into the lead of the championship by one point.

While pleased to be back in front, Loeb was even more excited to have won back-to-back gravel events in Citroen’s latest C4 rally machine. “It’s important for us to be competitive on gravel,” he said. “We’re looking good for the other rallies and the championship.”

Having seen his lead evaporate, Gronholm will be looking to bounce back next time out on the mountain tracks in Argentina. “We’re missing a little bit at the moment,” he admitted. “But we have three days testing in Sardinia, and hopefully can make some improvements.”