Sebastien Loeb, the most successful driver in world rally history, thinks Robert Kubica has more potential than Kimi Raikkonen. In 2010 and 2011, Finn Raikkonen tried his hand at world rallying, and now former BMW and Renault driver Kubica - still recovering from his 2011 rally crash - is driving for Citroen in the second-tier world rally series. "Robert's potential to reach the top is very good," Frenchman Loeb told Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper. "He is fast, he does need more experience but I think […]

Sebastien Loeb has won his second rally of the season in Mexico. Eight times world champion Loeb took the lead of the event on Friday and was never headed, eventually finishing 42 seconds clear of team mate Mikko Hirvonen to secure a Citroen 1-2. Petter Solberg completed the podium although he managed to pip Loeb in Sunday's power stage. It was a less-than-satisfactory weekend for the Ford team as Jari-Matti Latvala lost time after a spate of punctures and was eventually forced to retire after rolling on […]

Ford's Jari Matti Latvala has claimed his first win of the season after a mature drive in Sweden. The Finn stormed to the lead of the rally on the first day of the event and was never headed from then on. Citroen's Mikko Hirvonen provided a challenge to his ex team mate, but had to settle for second place. Mads Ostberg benefited from a late puncture for Petter Solberg to move above his compatriot onto the final step of the podium Evgeny Novikov takes another fifth place, […]

Jari Matti Latvala is edging towards his first win of the season after extending his lead on a relatively uneventful day in Sweden. With just six stages remaining on Sunday, Latvala leads Citroen's Mikko Hirvonen by 23 seconds. Petter Solberg, a further 28 seconds behind, completes the podium positions. Mads Ostberg continues his typically strong pace in the snowy conditions as he lies fourth, a mere 11 seconds behind the 2003 champion. Evgeny Novikov still holds 5th, 44.4s ahead of Sebastien Loeb. The Frenchman suffered […]

Jari Matti Latvala powered ahead on the opening day of Rally Sweden after a commanding performance in the afternoon bunch of stages. Latvala had been embroiled in a close fight all day with ex team-mate Mikko Hirvonen although the former dealt with high tyre wear better than his rivals to move seventeen seconds clear with just a superspecial stage left remaining today. Behind the two Finns are two Norwegians, Petter Solberg and Mads Ostberg. Solberg has closed to within 3 seconds of Hirvonen and will look […]

Sebastien Loeb takes a dominant victory in the opening round of the season

Sebastien Loeb continues to lead the Monte Carlo Rally after a third day of action, the quietest day of the rally so far. The rally now moves from Valence in Southern France to Monte Carlo, where the bulk of the remaining stages take place. With Loeb driving conservatively, it allowed new team mate Mikko Hirvonen to set a few fastest times. The Finn, who had been struggling, relished the conditions on SS12 and SS13 to close the gap to Petter Solberg. Dani Sordo holds second […]

Sebastien Loeb's domination of the opening round of the WRC season in Monte Carlo continued on day two of the rally. Loeb now leads by 97 seconds after winning all but one of today's stages. The only stage not won by the world champion was SS8, when Dani Sordo trumped his former team mate by 0.2s. The most exciting battle is for second place, between Mini's Dani Sordo and Ford's Petter Solberg, as the duo continue to swap places on a regular basis. Dry conditions […]

Sebastien Loeb leads Monte Carlo Rally

Ahead of this week's Monte Carlo Rally, here is a brief look ahead to the WRC season

Sebastien Ogier has joined Volkswagen for a three-year deal, following his departure from Citroen. The Frenchman, who finished 3rd in this year's World Rally Championship, was released from his contract following disputes with Sebastien Loeb. "Sebastien Ogier has been signed as the first official Volkswagen driver for the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC)," the German team said in a statement. Ogier will spend 2012 developing the Polo R WRC, before returning to the championship in 2013. The 27 year old said he was happy with […]

Mikko Hirvonen will replace Sebastien Ogier at Citroen next season