After the second day of the Rallye de Espana – also known as the Catalunya Rally – Sebastien Loeb is still in the lead with his all conquering Red Bull-backed Citroen C4 WRC. Citroen privateer Petter Solberg is second, while Loeb’s team-mate Dani Sordo is hoping to move from third to the runner-up spot. If he manages to do it, history will repeat itself as Loeb and Sordo have finished first and second in Spain since 2006. After a total of 12 tough stages, with one more day to go, Sebastien Loeb describes the situation as he sees it...
"So here I am in Spain and leading. If people thought that I wasn’t going to make an effort any more after I became World Champion again, I really hope this proves them wrong! But as I always say, a lead like this is nothing. One spin, one puncture and it’s all over.
I really like the Catalunya Rally and we’ve always gone very well here in the past. This year it’s been a bit different as the first day was held on gravel before two more ‘normal’ days on asphalt. It’s nice to change things sometimes although actually I expected to lose a lot of time on the first day with all the loose gravel. I’m very surprised that we didn’t.
But in rallying, you have to expect surprises. OK, I wouldn’t like to have any for me here on Sunday, but you never know…
Normally, a 44-second lead should be enough over Petter Solberg – who I have to say has done a really good job this year. But soon we will be ready for next season, when all the records are put back to zero. People ask me a lot if I still have the same motivation, or if I don’t ever get tired of it. What do you think? I hope that I’ve answered a few of those questions now. You never get tired of winning, and even though the Citroen C4 WRC is practically a part of me, I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of driving it.
Next year we’ve got a new car: the DS3 WRC. I’ve driven it in testing already and it’s very good. So good that it’s one of the big reasons why I am staying on. For the time being though, we still have two rallies to finish with the C4 WRC. And the best way to say goodbye to it will be with a bit of Champagne…”
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