Sebastien Loeb wins Rally Finland 2012. Second is his teammate Mikko Hirvonen. The both Citroen drivers do not remain chances for Ford drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg. The Ford driver’s remain at third and fourth positions.
This is Loeb’s 6th victory this season by 8 possible and is one of the strongest seasons.
Comments:
S. Loeb: “For sure it’s very satisfying to win in Finland. I didn’t come here especially to win, I came for points because it’s very difficult to beat the Finnish drivers. It was a great fight with Mikko, a one-two for Citroen and great for the championship.”
M. Hirvonen: “Sebastien was just faster and congratulations to him. Second position in Finland makes it even worse but if you do a perfect rally it is not enough against Sebastien. You have to do more because he is incredible.”
Solberg for Power Stage: “It was cleaning a little behind and I made a small mistake at the start, one in the middle and braked far too early for one corner close to the finish. I tried but it was not enough.”
Overall Results:
1. S. Loeb 2:28:11.4
2. M. Hirvonen +6.1
3. J. Latvala +35.0
4. P. Solberg +56.1
5. M. Ostberg +2:32.1
6. O. Tanak +2:47.6
7. M. Rantanen +4:51.7
8. J. Ketomma +6:01.9

Power Stage Results:
1. M. Hirvonen 15:17.3
2. P. Solberg +0.6
3. S. Loeb +1.1
 

Sebastien Loeb continues to lead followed by his teammate Mikko Hirvonen.
The Ford drivers remain at third and fourth positions with no chances to reach Loeb and Hirvonen.
The both VW drivers stopped, as Sebastien Ogier broken front-right suspension with his Skoda Fabia.
T. Neuville and C. Atkinson have problems with the intercom during stages today.
Loeb said: “The stages are quite rough in some places. You can be surprised in some big ruts when you are turning for the corners. I had to be careful.”
Latvala said: “It’s an amazing drive at the moment. I am happy with my car, playing a bit with the set-up but I don’t have any way to pull more time. To get closer [to Loeb] feels very difficult and I don’t know where to take that time. Citroen are very strong at the moment.”

Results after SS 12 (Day 2):
1. S. Loeb 1:20:30.4
2. M. Hirvonen +5.0
3. J. Latvala +20.3
4. P. Solberg +21.4
5. M. Ostberg +47.7
6. O. Tanak +1:36.4
In the last day there are 6 stages to run.
 

The domination of Citroen drivers Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen continue during the morning stages in Finland. The battle is for the third place between the teammates Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg.
The morning does not start well for the Russian driver Evgeny Novikov who crashes with his Fiesta RS WRC as left the road and rolled. Evgeny will back on the rally after the service repair. He comments after the crash:
Novikov: “We were pushing on a very fast corner - I remember it well from the race - but I was too fast. I put the car sideways and at the end of the corner we were half a meter short and I couldn’t get the car straight. We rolled two times, but we will fight to keep going and I hope the car will be ok for the next loop.”
Latvala: “I’m really trying, trying to do my best but it’s not happening, I don’t know why.”
Loeb: “I tried hard again, which is what I do since the start, but Mikko has found a really fast rhythm today. But I’m happy with my driving, it was a bit better on this stage.”
Results after SS 7:
1. S. Loeb 44:20.8
2. M. Hirvonen +6.2
3. J. Latvala +16.1
4. P. Solberg +18.6
5. M. Ostberg +24.1
6. T. Neuville +30.2

Sebastien Loeb is the rally leader after day 1 in Finland. Seb was the fastest followed by his teammate Mikko Hirvonen and Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala.

Comments:
Loeb: “I couldn’t go faster for sure. It was a very, very good stage and I was flat out everywhere. I was really on the limit with no mistakes at all, it was a big push.”
Hirvonen: “I was a couple of times more on the ditch than in the road. I lost some time, we’re a little bit behind but we’ll see tomorrow. I need to stay on the road tomorrow, I’ll be a lot faster that way.”
Latvala: “I don’t have an answer at the moment, I thought I was driving well and I thought it was a good stage but I’ve lost five seconds and that’s a lot. There’s no excuse.”
Solberg: “I struggled a little bit with the traction sometimes and it was very tricky in the middle part.”
Ostberg: “It was a good stage for us. We pushed quite hard at the beginning and we had a few moments in the fast stuff through the forest where it was very slippery so we backed off towards the end.”

Results after SS 3:
1. S. Loeb 15:07.1
2. M. Hirvonen +7.3
3. J. Latvala +7.3
4. M. Ostberg +7.5
5. T. Neuville +9.0
6. P. Solberg +9.2

There are 9 stages to run for tomorrow in all 18 stages for the rally.