Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA, Sebastien Loeb has become FIA World Rally Champion for the third year in a row, despite being almost 14 thousand kilometres away from this weekend's Telstra Rally Australia, recuperating with a broken arm. Loeb becomes the first driver run by a privateer team to claim the drivers' title since 1981, when Ari Vatanen did it with a Rothmans Ford Escort run by David Sutton.
After breaking his arm in the days after Rally Cyprus, Loeb gifted Marcus Gronholm an admittedly-slim second chance for the 2006 driver's championship. Gronholm could afford to finish one of the remaining four events third to stand any chance of taking the title but even then, he would have to win the remaining rounds and for Loeb not to score to do it. Gronholm won in Turkey, exactly what was needed but a mistake on the third stage of Telstra Rally Australia meant that the best he could achieve was fifth, eliminating his hopes of a third title.
This year has been an eventful one for Loeb. Not only did he claim the record for the number of rally wins, he either won or finished second on every event he contested; a remarkable achivement. It is not yet known when Loeb will make his return to the championship. However he can rest easy knowing that he will not have to rush back to take the title.
"To win the title is a very nice feeling," Loeb said in a telephone interview with BP Ultimate World Rally Radio at the end of Telstra Rally Australia.
"Luckily for me I had a good number of points before I had my accident," he added. "When you are at home and you know you can't drive and you're watching the rally on the internet, it's very difficult; very frustrating to not be able to fight. It's a good to know that we won the championship.
"For me it was a big challenge to come with Kronos at the beginning of the season, but they gave me a perfect car all season, like it was with Citroen. I would like to be there to celebrate it, but hopefully I'll come back before the end of the season, so we can all celebrate it together."
-WRC.com
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