An unstoppable Sebastien Loeb claimed his fourth
straight win of the season in Portugal yesterday.
France's
five-time world champion took victory with a 24.3-second margin over Ford's
Mikko Hirvonen, with Loeb's Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo in third in the WRC of
Portugal.
Loeb,
with 40 points, now leads the standings by 10 from Finn Hirvonen. Third-placed
Sordo has 23 points.
The
rally, returning to the series after a year's absence, was the first all-gravel
event of the season and was based in the Serra do Caldeirão hills, above the
Algarve holiday resort of Faro.
It
mixed fast, open roads with narrow, more technical sections and there were many
blind crests hiding sharp turns ready to trap the unwary. Hot and dry
weather left the road surface coated by loose stones, while underneath the hard
bedrock posed tough challenges for Pirelli's tyres.
Hirvonen
led by 15.0sec after Friday's opening leg but as a result the 28-year-old Finn
was first in the start order on saturday. He faced the unwelcome task of
sweeping the loose gravel from the surface, leaving a cleaner and faster line
for those behind.
He
knew he would lose time and ended the day 26.8sec from the lead.
Yesterday's
final leg was the shortest of the three and Hirvonen quickly accepted there was
no point in risking second place in an all-out attack that was likely to prove
fruitless. It was also another impressive performance from Petter Solberg and
his Welsh co-driver Phil Mills in their rented Citroen Xsara.
Round
five takes competitors outside of Europe for the first time this season.
Rally Argentina, one of the championship's classic fixtures, is another gravel
event and is based in Carlos Paz on 23 - 26 April.
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