Sebastien Loeb scored a maximum score on round 1, with his historic fifth win there and now the Frenchman has taken the early lead in the race for the 2008 drivers' title, 2 points up on
Mikko Hirvonen, who was second at the Principality.
Citroen leads the manufacturers' race, 1 point in front of
Subaru, while the
BP Ford Abu Dhabi team is tied for third with the
Stobart Ford outfit.
News from the Manufacturers' teams:
Citroen Total WRT:
[
Sebastien Loeb, car #1 and
Daniel Sordo, car #2]
Landmark event for Loeb.
Sebastien Loeb will reach a milestone in Sweden, as the event will mark his 100th outing in the
FIA World Rally Championship.
Loeb began 2008 perfectly on the Monte two weeks ago, when he notched up a record breaking fifth win, now though the WRC gears up for the only all-out winter fixture in the schedule.
Speaking ahead of the second round in the WRC, the Frenchman noted that he is not especially bothered about this being his 100th start.
Furthermore while there is no doubt he would like to try and repeat what he did in 2004, when he became the first - and thus far only - driver outside Sweden and Finland to win the event, he knows it will be very difficult to repeat that, as he found in 2007 and 2006, when he had to settle for the runners-up spot.
"My 100th start is a nice round figure, but it's not that important to me," he confirmed. "Our objective will be to try to win, which won't be easy.
"For one thing, we will start the weekend running first on the road and that can often be a handicap in Sweden.
"Our rivals will also be out to draw level after the Monte Carlo Rally and I'm expecting a close fight. Sure, it would be nice to celebrate our 100th start with a win but scoring points in both championships will also be important and I will base my pace on the way the rally unfolds."
Daniel Sordo meanwhile has set his sights on scoring points. He has only done Swedish Rally twice to date and both times he hasn’t had much luck, finishing 12th last season and 16th on his debut in 2006.
