Sebastien Loeb has led
Citroen to a stunning 1-2 result in the Rally New Zealand after Ford ran into an astonishing series of problems on a thrilling final day of competition.
Victory was almost certainly set to go the way of Ford and
Mikko Hirvonen when the Finn established a comfortable lead with only two stages and 32kms remaining, but a cruel puncture on the second run through Whaanga Coast robbed him of any chance to resist both Loeb and his team-mate Dani Sordo.
Also damaging his car following an ensuing spin, Hirvonen's eventual third place was, remarkably, the high point on a day that Ford are unlikely to forget for many years to come.
Heading into the Whaanga Coast stage for the second time today, there was quiet apprehension that the ruts created on the first loop could cause some problems, particularly with the top four drivers unable to back off as they continued to dispute the lead. However, with several PWRC runners hitting problems there earlier in the day, the warnings should have been apparent that this stage was going to be considerably more treacherous than it was just a few hours earlier.
Nonetheless, confidence was high after Hirvonen had pulled out a good margin over team-mate Latvala heading into the stage, while Sordo and Loeb were now at arms length and looking set to settle for third and fourth.
However, their fortunes changed rapidly when reports came through that Latvala had stopped on the stage. The Finn had damaged the underside of his Focus when he cut the inside of a corner too readily and struck a rock. Despite his attempts to continue, Latvala was forced to park up and ponder his third straight retirement.
