Sebastien Loeb furthered himself from the previous breed of the World Rallying elite, as he secured his 50th WRC victory in Cyprus. On what was the first mixed surface event in over 12 years, Loeb dominated from the outset leaving his rivals trailing.

In the lead up to the rally, focus was thrown upon the nature of the mixed surface and whether the drivers would employ slowing tactics, to promote those behind to a road sweeping position on latter days. Loeb has frequently been on the receiving end of these type of tactics, and was fearful of the same happening again. He started off the first day in a relentless fashion, as he took five stage wins out of six, and moving over 40 seconds ahead at the end of day one. Loeb's protége, and namesake, Sebastien Ogier was again enjoying an outing in a World Rally car, but suffered due to a misinterpreted pace note. Henning Solberg had been confident of a solid result, but his chances ended as he was involved in a road accident on the way to the opening stage. Both Henning and co-driver, Cato Menkerud, were unhurt in the accident, but due tot he damage sustained to the Ford Focus WRC, they were forced to withdraw from the entire first day. The younger Solberg brother, Petter, was fairing better in his privately entered Citroen Xsara. He ended day one in 4th place, behind the two works Citroen drivers and the two works Ford drivers. The second day saw Jari-Matti Latvala lose over 20 minutes, as he beached his car and had to run for a kilometre to find help to push it back onto the stage. Sebastien Ogier's rally went from bad to worse as he rolled, and suffered a number of small spins through the day. Petter Solberg set two fastest stage times through day two, and on one occasion was closely followed by brother Henning who had restarted under the SuperRally rules. Loeb ended day two almost 50 seconds ahead of Mikko Hirvonen, who in turn led Daniel Sordo by almost 40 seconds. The final day saw two significant place changes. Sordo was overhauled by a determined Petter Solberg, who took his first ever podium for the Petter Solberg World Rally Team as Loeb claimed the 50th win of his career. Mikko Hirvonen split the pair on the podium. The other significant mover was Matthew Wilson, who successfully pressured Sebastien Ogier into another mistake, and ultimately claimed 5th place.

Next weekend, 21st/22nd March, sees the World Touring Car Championship resume in South America, at Puebla in Mexico. Andy Priaulx will be hoping to make his mark on the 2009 championship after a weekend of poor luck in Brazil. The weekend also sees the return of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship. The carnival atmosphere of the Adelaide Street Circuit will greet the Clipsal 500. A raft of changes has taken place in the regulations over the close season, including an alteration to the format of the race weekends. Gone are the 3 races, and replaced with 2 – one each on the Saturday and Sunday.

Results

  Rallying

    WRC

      Final Positions (Top 8)
        1. Sebastien Loeb
        2. Mikko Hirvonen
        3. Petter Solberg
        4. Daniel Sordo
        5. Matthew Wilson
        6. Conrad Rautenbach
        7. Federico Villagra
        8. Khalid Al Qassimi

      Driver Standings
        1. Sebastian Loeb       30 Pts
        2. Mikko Hirvonen       22 Pts
        3. Daniel Sordo         17 Pts
        4. Henning Solberg      10 Pts
        5. Petter Solberg        9 Pts
        6. Matthew Wilson        8 Pts
        7. Jari-Matti Latvala    6 Pts
        8. Chris Atkinson        4 Pts
        9. Sebastien Ogier       3 Pts
        9= Conrad Rautenbach     3 Pts

      Manufacturer Standings
        1. Citroen Total        48 Pts
        2. BP-Ford              32 Pts
        3. Stobart Ford         22 Pts
        4. Citroen Junior       11 Pts
        5. Munchi's Ford         3 Pts