Sébastien Loeb and his Monaco-born co-driver Daniel Elena claimed their fifth Monte Carlo win for Citroën in
today. Taking their prize at the finish ceremony in front of the Principality’s palace this afternoon, the Citroën
pair has carved out an indelible place in the record books of the world longest-standing and most prestigious
rally. Meanwhile, after being forced to make profit from the SupeRally ruling to re-start this morning after
their problem on Day 3, Dani Sordo and Marc Martí came 11th to earn a Manufacturers’ point for Citroën.
The Citroën C4 WRC’s second straight win over the legendary stages of the Monte Carlo Rally follows on
from the three successes notched up by its predecessor, the Xsara WRC. “This result owes much to the
talent of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. They put in a perfect run, ” said Olivier Quesnel after the finish.
“Another win for the team on the WRC’s particularly challenging curtain-raiser is a fitting reward for all the
hard work put in by everyone at Citroën Sport. “
Indeed, the team led from start to finish, staking an early claim in the Vercors Mountains on Thursday
evening when the C4 WRC of Dani Sordo/Marc Martí emerged in the lead after SS1 before their team-mates
took over in front after the following test. A series of five consecutive top-two stage times had many
believing that the two Citroën crews were heading for a repeat of their one-two finish on this event last
year, but Dani ultimately had to call on the SupeRally ruling to be able to continue after suffering a
mechanical problem on SS11.
Sunday’s action, which featured just 69.65km of stages, including two attempts at the infamous Col du
Turini test, had the potential to cause some surprises but Seb and Dani remained perfectly focused. They
didn’t put the slightest foot wrong over the four ‘true’ stages before rounding off their weekend with two
laps of the super-special in the Principality itself. The victory of Seb and Daniel sees them become the only
crew to have won the Monte five times, putting them one win ahead of Walter Röhrl, Sandro Munari and
Tommi Mäkinen.
At the harbour side finish in Monaco, on the podium and during interviews in the press office, the broad
smiles on the faces of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena showed just how delighted they were: “More than
the fact that this was our 37th WRC victory and our fifth Monte win, I think the most significant thing is the
way we won this year, ” commented Seb. “Our C4 performed faultlessly throughout and the set-up we chose
for the start proved excellent, which shows how well we worked upstream. The C4 and the Pirelli tyres also
functioned well together on these asphalt stages which were often damp. It’s always nice to start the season
with a win, but I have no intention of getting carried away because there are some very difficult rallies to
come… “
Putting his woes behind him, Dani Sordo also concluded on a positive note: “We were the only ones who
succeeded in staying with Sébastien’s pace. Once again, our car was awesomely quick on asphalt and I was
also pleased with the way our tyres performed. That was one of the unknown factors before the start. Last
but not least, I’m glad to have picked up a Manufacturers’ point for Citroën. “
“It’s immensely satisfying to have started my job as Director of Citroën Sport with a win on the Monte Carlo
Rally. It gives us a solid footing in both championships, ” concluded Olivier Quesnel. “I remain lucid,
however, because the team is often successful on sealed surfaces. A totally different challenge awaits us in
Sweden. Our rivals will doubtlessly be very strong in the slippery conditions and the fight promises to be
more open…”
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