Sebastien Loeb heads into Wales Rally GB, the 16th and final leg of the World Rally Championships, assured of a fourth consecutive world title should he finish in the top five.
Loeb, driving a Citroen, stands on 110 points after 15 stages of the championships, six ahead of Marcus Gronholm.
Should the two-time former world champion Finn win, then Loeb need only finish in the top five to win another title to match Tommi Makinen (1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999) in the record books.
But the extreme conditions of the 17 gravel stages through often fog-bound and icily treacherous woods and valleys in South Wales mean that nothing is a given.
"Since I became the director of Citroen Sport 19 years ago, I have repeatedly said that rallying is the most unpredictable form of motor sport," said Guy Frequelin, who oversees Loeb's campaign.
"I'm not going to change my tune just because this is my last rally as team boss, especially since the 2007 title will be decided on such a notorious event as Wales Rally GB.
"The usual imponderables relating to the cars' mechanicals and the possibility of a driver error are even more pronounced on this event. Its extreme conditions make it very complex.
"We have a real chance and we are all very motivated, but I am still very much on my guard," Frequelin said.
Loeb's closest rival, Gronholm, has it all to race for: The 39-year-old Finn, who drives for the recently crowned manufacturers' champions Ford, will retire after the race in South Wales, his 150th in his rallying career.
Gronholm, who has been given a clean bill of health after crashing last week in Ireland, has won twice from 10 previous GB Rally starts, last year providing Ford with its first British win since 1979.
"It will be difficult to win the title but I have a chance and have to make the most of that opportunity," he said, citing national pride as an additional reason to seek out victory.
"What happened in Formula 1 is a good example. With two races left, Kimi Raikkonen had a big gap to make up to win the title -- and succeeded.
"That's a big spur for me because for Finland to win both the Formula 1 and the WRC titles would be something special for my country.
"I don't feel under pressure because it is out of my hands now. All I can do is try to win the rally and hope Seb has problems.
"This is my 150th WRC start so it would be great to mark that and my last rally with a victory. But it's the title I'm thinking about. I would swap a win for a top three finish and the title if that was all that was required," Gronholm said.
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS