Sebastien Loeb has said that just because he has beaten Carlos Sainz's record following his win on the Rally Japan, it doesn't mean he is necessarily a better driver.
Loeb took his 27th WRC victory after an incredible battle with Marcus Gronholm over the three-day event, the Frenchman finally coming out top, but only just, after his lead was slashed from 25 seconds at the end of leg 2 to just 5.6 seconds at the finish on Sunday.
"It's a very good feeling to break Carlos's record," said Loeb. "He was the man who had the most victories. I'm sorry for him. It was a pleasure and good experience for me to work with him. I learned a lot from him, maybe now he thinks he taught me too much!"
"It's really nice to be in the position to have this record though. It's good, I'm really happy for that. When I'm driving, however, it's more my passion for the fight in the stages than the record, and to do a rally like that today is nice. To break the record with 27 wins is not because I'm a better driver than Carlos; it was another time – perhaps more people fight for the victory, perhaps different cars," he added modestly when asked if he ever thought people would talk about him in the same breath as the likes of Sainz, Tommi Makinen and Juha Kankkunen.
As for the win itself, his first incidentally in Japan and one that further strengthens his hold on the 2006 drivers' title, as he bids to win it for the third year in succession, Seb noted that he had to push 100 per cent - and sometimes more, to hold off Gronholm.
"How was that for close? At the start of the final leg, I thought that the eight points for second place would have been a good result for the championship. Then we took the decision just to go for it, to try everything. The fight was too good just to walk away and settle for second. Mentally, that was an important turning point," he continued.
