Loeb takes near perfect rally

Sebastian Loeb and Daniel Elena landed their sixth win in Monte Carlo today, leading from SS4. And, to top a nearly perfect rally off, the record-breaking pairing took the Power Stage, and the extra 3 points it brings.

Loeb went into the rally-ending Power Stage with an incredible 2 mins 41 secs lead over Dani Sordo's MINI, and by the end of the 5km stage it had gone up to 2 mins 45 secs. Sordo took a well deserved second place, having fought hard with Petter Solberg right up to the end of the rally. Solberg had to settle for third, but he managed to wipe 48 secs out of Sordo over yesterday's 4 stages.

Mikko Hirvonen got his life at Citroen off to a pretty good start with a solid fourth place. He got his rally off to a shaky start but gathered pace and confidence, taking 3 stage wins by the end. Fifth went to the impressive Monte rookie Evgney Novikov, proving the doubters wrong by keeping his Fiesta away from the trees and off the back of a recovery truck. Francois Delecour's first rally in nearly a decade went well, taking sixth. A small mistake, taking off the front bumper, was his only problem.

Delecour's co-driver Dominique Savignoni took the decision to retire from co-driving after this rally. So, to let Savignoni go out with a proverbial 'bang', Delecour jumped into the co-driver's seat, and let Savignoni drive the final stage, crossing the line to cement their sixth place. In his first stage as a driver, Savignoni took 42^nd place, 52.2secs off Loeb's fastest time.

Pierre Campana, in the second works MINI, took seventh after a clever tyre choice on Friday vaulted him ahead of Ott Tanak, who took eighth. Martin Prokop won the close battle between himself and Armindo Araujo to take ninth, 5.9secs ahead of the MINI driver in 10^th.

Craig Breen won the S-WRC class after his only two competitors, PG Andersson and Giandomenico Basso, both went out of the rally. Both Proton-mounted, Basso crashed on the first stage of the rally, and Andersson's example caught fire on SS16.

Post rally, Petter Solberg was cited for speeding on Boulevard Charles III, doing 106 km/h in a 50 km/p zone. The Norwegian explained how he accelerated up to overtake a car, then braked immediately.

At the Stewards hearing after the rally, Solberg was found to be in breach of Article 151c of the FIA International Sporting Code, which covers "any act prejudicial to the interest of any competition or to the interest of motor sport generally."

The Organisers said: "On being questioned, the driver explained that indeed, he was accelerating at the said speed in trying to pass a slower car and in doing so, he passed the continuous centre line on the road, but was then braking immediately. He apologised for his lapse."

He received a 1 rally suspended ban, €1400 fine and a reprimand. If Solberg should “commit any speeding offence of 50 per cent or more of an applicable speed limit in any of the next six WRC rallies in which he participates during the 2012 season” his ban will be retrospectively imposed on Rally Sweden, as that's the next event he will contest.