Citroen’s Loeb most successful Monte Carlo driver

Sébastien Loeb has become the most successful driver in the history of the legendary Rallye Monte Carlo, by taking his fifth victory on the event.

Citroen Sport’s four-times FIA World Rally Champion Loeb, and his Monegasque co-driver, Daniel Elena, dominated the first round of the 2008 championship in their Citroen C4 WRC, heading into the final day with a 56 second lead, and completing the rally two and a half minutes ahead of second-placed Mikko Hirvonen.

Loeb and Elena’s 37th WRC victory also means the Frenchman has started the defence of his title in perfect fashion.

Sébastien and Daniel’s five Monte wins eclipse the four won by Walter Rohrl, Sandro Munari and Tommi Makinen in the past.

Sébastien’s team-mate, Dani Sordo and his co-driver, Marc Marti, were safely in second place throughout the whole rally, but dropped to 11th place on day 3 after a problem.

“I think the most significant thing is the way we won this year,” said Sébastien. “Our C4 performed faultlessly throughout and the set-up we chose for the start proved excellent, which shows how well we worked upstream. I have no intention of getting carried away, there are some very difficult rallies to come.”