Report
Sébastien Loeb secured his sixth world title with a win at the season finale in Wales. His rival Mikko Hirvonen had to settle for second place and thus buried his dream of his first world title. Loeb came to Wales a point behind World Cup leaders Hirvonen. So the starting position was clear. The one who finishes ahead of the other in points is world champion.
Loeb and Hirvonen fought a second duel at the top on the first day. Loeb took the lead in the first stage. Hirvonen kept getting close, but couldn't dislodge him from the lead. The preliminary decision was made on Saturday morning. On stages eight and nine, Hirvonen struggled to find the right pace and lost time. The gap grew to 25 seconds. So Loeb went into the final Sunday with a lead of 30.2 seconds. However, Hirvonen did not give up and reduced the gap to Loeb to 18.2 seconds in the first two special stages.
On the penultimate special stage, a hard landing after a jump caused the bonnet of Hirvonen's Ford to come off. On a full-throttle section, it flipped up and blocked the Finn's view. Hirvonen was forced to stop in order to let his co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen remove the hood, costing him about a minute. Despite Loeb having problems with his turbocharger on the final stage, Hirvonen was no longer able to catch up with the Frenchman, only being able to defend second place overall against Loeb's team-mate Daniel Sordo, who finished third just behind him.
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Great Britain
Sébastien Loeb 
