01 MIN 06 SEC FROM A WRC TITLE!

The WRC Rally GB was anti-climatic. Going into the final round of the 2009 World Rally Championship this past weekend, the two protagonists of this year-long drama were separated by a mere single point in the Drivers’ Championship standings. Two manufacturers, the unpredictable Welsh weather and both rivals with the same purpose: Rally GB had the making of an epic battle, WRITES EVAN ROTHMAN. IMAGES BRIAN BUTCHER.

After 16 slippery yet terrifyingly high-speed stages (watch in-car footage on WRC.com’s YouTube channel), I was left with a few “What Ifs” after reviewing this grueling rally. Only 01min 06sec lay between Mikko Hirvonen (BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team) and Sebastien Loeb (Citroen Total World Rally Team).

Expecting a nail-biting, back-and-forth battle between these two rally impresarios, the WRC Rally GB made me grumble “Oh No!” “Pity about that!” “Drive around the problem” and then “Better luck next year, Mikko.”

The two drivers (both fraught with different difficulties throughout the weekend) never seemed to settle into a rhythm. Although both drivers dominated the first two positions atop the rally leaderboard, the rally action lacked a sparkle. I was hoping for a ping-pong battle, hoping for Loeb and Hirvonen to fight for tenths of a second in stages, but alas that duel never materialised.

For Hirvonen to win the Championship he had to finish ahead of Loeb. No matter where on the leaderboard they were positioned, Hirvonen had to be one up on the Frenchman. The Rally Gods were not smiling on the Flying Finn this past weekend, I feel, as he stuttered through the first loop of stages on Day One. Loeb, with this cool and collected manner, attacked the tricky and treacherous Welsh gravel roads with style. Positioned at the top of the leaderboard from Day One, Loeb’s hold on the rally looked unshakeable.

Hirvonen’s team-mates both struggled through Day One of the rally with mechanical woes, and Khalid Al-Qassimi retired his Ford Focus RS WRC. With this in mind, and a mechanical scare heading to Service Park, Hirvonen’s confidence was undoubtedly knocked. He admitted to not being able to extract the maximum from his rally machine and not being comfortable in his car to attack the stages with the aggression needed to launch an attack on the rally’s leader.

Loeb’s rally was also not going as smoothly as he had anticipated, but his lead was unchallenged. Stage times from both Hirvonen and Loeb were consistently fast, but Hirvonen was unable to produce the magic that took him to victory in the WRC Rally Greece-Acropolis, WRC Rally Poland, WRC Rally Finland and WRC Rally Australia.

To add to Hirvonen’s challenges this past weekend, was a high-flying Spaniard. Dani Sordo (Citroen Total World Rally Team) gained in confi dence and speed throughout the weekend and closed on Hirvonen, with just one second the margin Hirvonen was able to muster ahead of the young charger. With Sordo closing in on Hirvonen on each stage on Day Three, he was forced to drive defensively to maintain second position overall.

Had Hirvonen had the support from his Finnish team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, would he have been able to charge for the lead on Day Two and Day Three? If his Ford Focus RS WRC was not blighted with mechanical troubles on Day Two, would he have been closer to Loeb to launch an attack?

It is these such “What Ifs” that remain in my mind. Had Mikko Hirvonen won the title this weekend, he would have been a very deserving Champion. Let’s not take anything away from the mastery of Sebastien Loeb, for he drove his Citroen C4 WRC to the most victories in 2009 and showed his supreme speed to all nay-sayers this year.

Most impressive drive of the weekend? Petter Solberg stole the limelight form his Citroen Junior Team colleagues when he drove the Citroen C4 WRC to fourth position overall in his first gravel rally outing in his team’s new car. Given an up-to-date specification WRC car, the factory drivers Loeb, Hirvonen and Sordo will need to keep their eyes on their rearview mirrors for this Norwegian. He looked every part the four-times winner of Rally GB this past weekend, and once again highlighted his impressive rally abilities.

Hats off to Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena clinching their sixth fantastic World Rally Championship trophies and to their 54th world class victory. “There was so much pressure right up to the end of the rally,” said Loeb. “We had a good start to the year, but then encountered a few problems. However, we got back on top of things just before this rally. Finally, we’ve managed to win the title again, on the penultimate stage. Mikko didn’t give up and I had to push right to the fi nish. It’s never easy to compare one title with another, but I think this is the best one in terms of the sporting battle we had. When you win a title with three rallies to go, the pressure isn’t the same because you’ve always got another opportunity to do it. This was the fi nal rally and we couldn’t afford to get it wrong. Everybody expected us to win, but I can tell you that nothing was certain until we reached the finish. That’s why it means so much to us.”

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About the Author

Scott Coursey is the editor-in-chief of RallyBuzz.com and can be found on Twitter or on Facebook