Reigning world champ Sebastien Loeb made it two WRC victories from two weekends when he won his home event, the Rallye de France in Corsica, by a massive 3mins 24.7secs ahead of the Ford of his closest World Rally Championship rival Mikko Hirvonen.
But while Citroen ace Loeb, who was fastest on all but two of the 16 stages and now leads the title race by 14 points with just two rounds remaining, was pleased with his performance, Scot Barry Clark was delighted to finish in the top 10.
“I’m really chuffed to bits,” the 26-year-old from Ellon said today after climbing out of his Stobart Ford Focus WRC. “This was my first time contesting an all-tarmac rally in a world rally car and to get up into the top 10 is absolutely amazing.
“I knew how I wanted to approach the event before it started and I’m really happy that I’ve put everything into place the way I wanted. This was always going to be a learning weekend.
“I’ve built things up over the three days and focused on improving my driving and my pace, and making sure we got to the end of the event. It was also great to beat some of the full time manufacturer drivers along the way.
“I prepared well for this rally and it all really paid off,” Clark, who won the Ford Fiesta International Championship last year, continued. “Now I can’t wait to get back into the car and build on this experience in the Wales Rally GB later in the year.
“This result, which is probably more than I realistically could have wished for, gives me quite a bit of confidence going into Rally GB in December where I’ll be back on stages I know better in wet, muddy gravel conditions which are more like those I have grown up with.”
Loeb meanwhile took a major step towards a record fifth consecutive World Rally Championship with his dominant victory. Not only was it his fourth consecutive win in Corsica, but his 10th victory of the season, equalling his own record from three years ago.
“It’s just getting better and better,” the ecstatic Loeb beamed. “To win here in Corsica is always a great moment, and this year we were going much faster than everybody.”
JM