Loeb aiming for eighth title at GB Rally

Sebastien Loeb will bid for an eighth consecutive drivers' title at the season-closing leg of the World Rally Championship starting in Wales on Thursday. Loeb's 67th career win and the fifth this year at last month's Rally of Catalunya assured his team Citroen of the manufacturers' title ahead of the closing rally in Wales to come. The French ace, who has also won in Mexico, Sardinia, Argentina and Finland this season, now goes into the final rally with an eight-point advantage over Finn Mikko Hirvonen in the overall drivers' standings. "The scenario is like the one in 2009. We started Rally GB neck and neck with Mikko Hirvonen and whoever finished in front of the other was world champion," said Loeb. "With a seven-point gap between victory and second place and three points for the best time in the Power Stage, it's not a very comfortable situation. My aim won't be to win at any cost but to run my race depending on Mikko's." Ford driver Hirvonen said he would have but one focus going into the rally which kicks off with two runs over the Great Orme all-asphalt toll road in North Wales, not used on the event since 1981, before a single stage in Clocaenog Forest, which last appeared on the Rally GB itinerary in 1996. "The only thing I can do is aim to win the rally. If something unexpected happens to Loeb, I may not need to win anymore, but from the outset, the sole target has to be victory," he said. "In Wales, everything depends so much upon the conditions. If they're tricky, you need to be confident, trust the pace notes and take risks, even if you can't see so well in places." If Hirvonen wins with Loeb second Loeb would take the drivers' crown by a solitary point. However, with bonus points up for grabs on the Power Stage, the championship could be decided by the outcome of the rally’s final test on Sunday afternoon. "Mikko's very strong mentally in these kinds of situations," Loeb acknowledged. "Above all, don't underestimate him. At the mid-season mark he said he didn't believe in his chances of winning the title. But the way the recent rallies have panned out have put him back in the running. "In some ways, he really hasn't got anything to lose and he's going to seize his chances. Being second holds no interest for him. He's going to push right from the start to go for victory. He's certainly going to set the pace in the race."