How Loeb destroyed his rivals in Spain

He had no pressure to perform, but Sebastien Loeb blew his rivals away in Rally Catalunya. David Evans examines an example of Loeb at his very best

Sebastien Loeb doesn't talk about being lucky very often. He did last Friday morning. But actually, he wasn't really that lucky. There was plenty of judgement (and a significant amount of skill and bravery) as well as the luck.

Fortune favoured him with fog on Friday morning in Spain. Undoubtedly, had the Catalunya Rally been run a month earlier, he would have struggled to do the time he did through the Terra Alta stage. If the sun had come up hard, fast and hot, the road surface would have been as rocky, gravely and loose as ever. Instead, the sun took its time to break through the fog and that fog left just about enough moisture on the road to bind some of the gravel together. So, instead of scrabbling around on top of the loose, the Pirelli Scorpions at each corner of Loeb's Citroen C4 WRC were offered some purchase. They took it. And Loeb won the rally.

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