RALLYING:Citroen's Sebastien Loeb cruised to victory in Cyprus to record his 50th World Rally Championship win and make it three wins from three rounds this season.
The Frenchman laid the foundations for his landmark victory — he is the first driver in history to reach 50 wins — with a stunning display on Friday that saw him open up a 41.8 second lead with five stage wins from the opening six tests.
His ability to get the most out of Pirelli’s Scorpion gravel tyre on the first day’s asphalt stages left his rivals trailing in his wake.
The five-time world champion entered the final day with a lead of 49.8 seconds over Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and he was able to run a steady pace through today’s final three stages, losing 17.1 seconds to Hirvonen on the event’s penultimate stage, to eventually take victory by 27.2 seconds.
The Frenchman was delighted to have made history as he extended his lead over Hirvonen in the drivers’ standings to eight points.
“It’s incredible. I remember when I beat the record number of wins of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae,” said Loeb.
“Now 50 is a really a big number, a nice number. I’m really happy with what we are achieving at the moment, but it’s not finished, we’re not stopping yet.”