Irisih eyes on Seb

Sebastien Loeb’s bid for a fourth consecutive WRC title is looking odds on after winning the Rally Ireland. Loeb made the most of championship rival Marcus Gronholm's early exit on day one to og on for the win and move six points ahead of the Ford driver with the season final, the Rally GB, in two weeks. Joining the Citroen superstar was team mate Dani Sordo and up and coming star Jari-Matti Latvala third, in a privateer Ford Foucus RS. Mikko Hirvonen of Finland, who is third in the title race, came home fourth. Gronholm came into the penultimate rally of the championship ahead of Loeb in the standings, but crashed out on Friday. Loeb now has 110 points, compared to Gronholm's 104, with only the Rally GB, from 30 November-2 December, left to come. "Ten points more for the championship is really important. That could change a lot of things for the championship. "It was really great to win here, especially with Marcus scoring no points. I knew after the crash of Marcus, it all depended on me," said Loeb. "This rally was one of the most difficult we've ever done, because it was very muddy but the car was really good. I had a really good feeling and I was not pushing so hard, just driving through with no risks." Rally Ireland result:
1 S Loeb (FRA) Citroen
2 D Sordo (SPN) Citroen
3 J-M Latvala (FIN) Ford
4 M Hirvonen (FIN) Ford
5 P Solberg (NOR) Subaru
6 G Wilks (GB) Subaru
7 M Wilson (GB) Ford
8 G Mac Hale (NI) Ford Driver standings
1 S Loeb (FR) 110 points
2 M Gronholm (FIN) 104
3 M Hirvonen (FIN) 89
4 D Sordo (SPN) 61
5 P Solberg (NOR) 42