Sebastien Loeb has secured the 2012 World Rally Championship driver’s title after winning Rally France by a 15-second margin over Ford rival Jari-Matti Latvala; this signals the Frenchman’s record-breaking ninth consecutive driver’s title with the Citroen World Rally Team.
Loeb lead the way throughout the course of his home rally with no imminent threats despite taking no risks, with today’s final result marking his 75th WRC victory in addition to an unprecedented 112th podium.
Mikko Hirvonen took third in the sister Citroen, while Thierry Neuville earned a fourth place finish after a great performance by the Belgian, and Dani Sordo’s power steering issues on the final day of the event.
Mads Ostberg struggled to keep up with Neuville in the wet, therefore finishing fifth ahead of Ott Tanak who benefited from M-Sport teammate Evgeny Novikov’s accident in the morning to move up to sixth position.
This will be Loeb’s last WRC title as he announced his retirement around two weeks ago.