Sébastien Loeb takes his 44th WRC victory

Sebastien Loeb took his 44th WRC victory this afternoon, winning Rally New Zealand by 17.5sec from his Citroen Total team-mate Dani Sordo who was second.

It was the dream result for Loeb and his team after a shaky start to the day, when Loeb dropped to fourth after a spin on the opening stage. At Sunday’s midpoint it looked like BP Ford Abu Dhabi drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala had the top two positions locked out, but on the penultimate stage the Ford team’s challenge crumbled, with Latvala retiring and Hirvonen losing 50 seconds.

Twelve months ago Loeb missed out on victory in New Zealand by 0.3sec - the slimmest losing margin in WRC history. But this year he completed the Mystery Creek Super Special with a comfortable lead to take his second New Zealand win. But at the finish Loeb said he was still surprised by how the day had turned out.

"This morning I had the spin and just wasn’t able to make up the gap to Mikko - I thought it was over and we’d lost the chance," said Loeb "But then it all changed and we were leading again. But this was really a difficult rally, changing all the time, with some strategy coming in too. I needed to win for sure, and that’s very nice, but I’m not happy for what happened to Mikko because he was doing really well and it was a good battle. But okay; it’s a race and these things happen sometimes. "

A maximum 10 points for Loeb moved him eight points clear at the top of the drivers' championship with four events remaining. Another eight points from Sordo eased Citroen further ahead in the manufacturers’ series too, twenty points clear of their nearest rivals Ford. "The result today was very important for the manufacturers’ championship but also for me for me in the drivers’ series," said Sordo. "I’m also very happy because on gravel I’m getting quicker and quicker. I feel I’m making real progress."

A desolate Hirvonen brought his bumper-less Focus across the finish line to claim the final podium place, 24sec adrift of Sordo’s time. "I was really confident before Whaanga Coast that we were going to win this rally but what could we do? - we had a slow puncture than that dropped us to third," he said. "That’s how it is now. I’m not going to let this knock my confidence. I know we can win rallies. The season isn’t over yet so we just have to go flat out again on the next rallies."

Latvala’s retirement meant Petter Solberg finished fourth for the Subaru World Rally Team. "I never thought I could get fourth after being tenth on the first day," said Solberg. "But while I’m happy about the result, the thing is we are still not up there; we want to win, not get fourth. I’m sorry, but we’re not here for fun. We have to improve the speed."

Urmo Aava was fifth, on an event which was a late addition to his 2008 programme with the PH sport Citroen team. "Coming here was a bonus and I’m happy we’ve made eth best use of it, he said. "I think we had a good speed - especially on Saturday - and we got a good position and some good points."

Per-Gunnar Andersson and Toni Gardemeister were sixth and seventh respectively; recording the best ever WRC finish for the Suzuki World Rally Team. "It’s a great result for Suzuki," said Andersson. "We’ve struggled with the handling a little bit, but we’ve shown good reliability here. We’ll take some good points in the championships and that makes the rest of the season easier."

"It’s been a good weekend," added Gardemeister. "Apart from our brake problem on Saturday the car has worked very well."

Federico Villagra finished eighth, taking the last drivers’ championship point in his Munchi’s team Ford Focus RS. "It’s been a tough rally," he said. "I struggled a lot with my braking throughout, but it’s a good result in the end."

But the man with the biggest grin at the finish line was Villagra’s Munchi’s team-mate Henning Solberg. The Norwegian dropped to 45th on the first day as a result of power steering failure. But after a remarkable fight back, during which he won seven stages, Solberg completed the rally ninth and claimed the last championship point for his team.

"We’ve taken a good step this weekend, I must say," he said. "I’ve worked hard with myself since Finland and here I had the opportunity to relax and find my own rhythm. I have to say I’m very happy with ninth."

full results, interviews, videos and more on www.wrc.com  photos Willy Weyens