Sebastien Loeb Dominates the WRC Rally Ireland

Domination best describes Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena victory at the opening round of the2009 World Rally Championship in Ireland.

Winning 11 out of the 19 stages, the five-time World Rally champion recorded his 48th career victory and his second in Ireland.

“A tough rally,” Loeb declared after an understandably conservative run on the final stage. “It is tricky for everyone but now we are here and we won the rally. I will try to continue like this.”

Dani Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti finished in second, 88 seconds behind Loeb in the second Citroen C4 in what was a solid start to the season for the Spanish duo. “A very good result for us and I am happy for me and the team,” Sordo explained.

While Total Citroen Sport celebrates another one-two finish, a repeat of the 2007 event, it was a less than encouraging start to the season for the Ford Focus team.

With Jari-Matti Latvala out of contention on the first day, Mikko Hirvonen ran well in his Focus, but a power steering problem thwarted any possible challenge to Sordo.

“It's certainly far from the start that we were looking for,” admitted Ford Team Principal Malcolm Wilson. “In real terms we would have been happy with third and fourth but we defiantly have not had the start that we really wanted. We know that going into the next event that we can be really strong.”

Third position was a remarkable finish for Hirvonen considering his mechanical issues. Now his thoughts turn towards to the Rally Norway in two week's time. “We had some problems so I am pleased with the points we got,” the Finn, who took his fifth stage win around the streets of Donegal, said. “Norway next and I can't wait as it will be a different story over there!”

Henning Solberg was pleased with his fourth place finish in the Stobart Ford, his best ever tarmac result. “It's good so I am very very happy,” he said. The Norwegian added that he is looking forward to his home event in two week's time where he expects the Focus to be able to challenge the C4.

Chris Atkinson recovered from a high speed off on day one and a pair of minor incidents to finish fifth in his debut for the Citroen Junior team. The Australian showed flashes of raw speed to record a solid finish for the team. “We're happy,” said Atkinson. “In the end we made a mistake but that's life and we have to be happy with fifth. The team have done a great job with the car so it's good.”

Atkinson's debut with the Citroen Junior team was a one-off deal, but the Australian hopes to be back before too long. “We hope to find some sponsors so we can do some more events,” he explained.

Sebastien Ogier, the winner of last weeks IRC Rally Monte Carlo completed his second WRC event, recording a notable sixth position for the Citroen Junior team. “It was a difficult rally but I got a lot of experience this weekend and we got some points from the rally.”

Enjoying a solid start to the season in his Stobart Ford entry was Matthew Wilson as the British driver finished seventh overall ahead of Khalid Al Qassimi who scored his first ever World Rally Championship point in the third works Ford Focus.

Aaron Burkart took his first victory in the Junior World Rally Championship in his Suzuki Swift S1600 ahead of Martin Prokop and Simone Bertolotti.

The teams have a short turn around as they pack up and head to the snow and ice of Hamar for Rally Norway which gets underway on 13th of February.