Loeb wins Turkey Rally

Written by Administrator

Monday, 06 June 2005

World Champion Sebastian Loeb won the Turkey Rally on Sunday, making it his fourth consecutive win. The French Citroen becomes the first driver to win the championship four times in a row since 1985. Loeb made the win look easy negotiating the roads well finishing just one minute ahead of opponent Subaru's Petter Solberg. "I'm very proud of the team," Loeb said after securing his victory. The rally which went through the Taurus mountains near to the southern Mediterranean tourist town of Antalya was well organized and is just another Turkish success story in hosting an international sporting event. The Frenchman now holds a 13 point lead over Solberg after seven rounds of this year's series. Speaking at a press conference after the win Loeb said. "This was a fantastic job. It just goes to prove the solidity of the work that we've all been doing. I didn't feel especially threatened and this is what you achieve when you have the whole team working together." Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm sneaked in just seconds ahead of Solberg in the final stage, but it wasn't enough to deter the Norwegian. Solberg took second-place by a 15.7 second lead over the Finn. It is the first-time a driver has won the championship four times since Timo Salonen did it in 1985. The next race will be the Acropolis Rally in Greece on June 24-26. The sporting event was largely seen as a success for Turkey, who have just recently staged two other major sporting events. The WTA tennis championship where Serina WIlliams took home the cup, and the UEFA Champions League cup final in which 50,000 Liverpool and AC Milan fans descended on Istanbul

Last Updated ( Thursday, 09 June 2005 )

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