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Featured Sport News

Loeb dominance continues

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 21/04/2009

The world of motorsport has seen several modern-day greats emerge in the fields of Formula One and MotoGP, but it is the World Rally Championship which has possibly the most dominant force.

F1 saw German maestro Michael Schumacher win an all but impossible 91 races from 248 starts before his retirement in 2006, taking seven drivers' titles in the process.

Meanwhile, Italian Valentino Rossi is the king of the bikes, taking six world titles and winning 97 times in just 211 starts.

Both of these men are undoubted legends in their sports, but in rallying Frenchman Sebastien Loeb can lay claim to even greater dominance.

Loeb and his Citroen team have proved all but unbeatable in recent times, with the Alsace-born driver and his ever-present co-driver Daniel Elena winning the drivers' title in each of the last five seasons.

The 2009 season, which has been affected by a number of manufacturers withdrawing from the competition, has begun with four successive victories for betting favourite Loeb, who has now won an astonishing 51 of the 117 rallies he has started.

Five victories meant that Loeb took his first crown in 2004, edging out Norway's Petter Solberg, who had denied the French ace by a single point a year previously.

Loeb was clearly in the groove with the added confidence of being the reigning champion and, in 2005, he moved into a league of his own, winning an amazing ten rallies, including six in a row.

Eight wins in 12 races tied up the 2006 crown long before the season had ended, with Loeb missing the last four races due to an elbow injury suffered during a mountain bike ride.

Yes, riding a mountain bike really is more dangerous than charging through a snow-covered forest at well in excess of 100mph!

After Loeb had recovered he quickly showed that he had lost none of his skill and bravery, taking the 2007 crown by four points from Markus Gronholm, who came close to breaking the Frenchman's dominance before suffering retirements in two of the last three races of the campaign.

That challenge from Gronholm only seemed to spur Loeb on and, in 2008, he won a record 11 rallies in one season, to ensure a fifth title in a row and establish himself as one of motorsport's all-time greats.

A sixth title already looks all but certain, with Loeb having tasted victory in Ireland, Norway, Cyprus and Portugal, proving yet again that he can master any surface - tarmac, gravel, mud, ice or snow.

At 35, Loeb may not be around too much longer in rallying, but his record and impact means that all future drivers have the highest possible standard to aim for.

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