Sebastien Loeb scores a Corker in Ireland

Citroen Sport’s triple FIA World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb, set the fastest time on all but one stage on his way to a dominant victory in this weekend’s Cork International Rally.

Loeb and his C4 WRC co-driver, Daniel Elena, were followed home by team-mates Dani Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti, driving a Xsara WRC, for an emphatic one-two finish.

The rally, a round of the Irish Tarmac Championship, provided the Citroen Sport squad another chance to gather valuable data and set-up information ahead of the first ever WRC round in Ireland, on November 16-18.

A forceful victory will stand the team and drivers in good stead when the championship reaches the narrow, twisty and bumpy asphalt Irish country roads.

“In addition to winning, the most important thing about the weekend was the fact that it enabled us to do some excellent work in a competitive context,” said Sébastien. “I must say, I was once again surprised by how difficult the stages were.

“But the weekend gave us a valuable opportunity to test with Citroen Sport’s engineers and technicians for Ireland’s WRC round. The stages we contested here on Saturday were apparently similar to what we can expect in the north, so it was very worthwhile coming to Cork. We have kept some set-ups, rejected others and also evaluated certain new ideas.”

Before Loeb and Citroen Sport tackle Ireland, they have back to back weekends in Spain and Corsica starting this weekend (Oct 5-7), plus a long-haul trip to Japan.