Few rally drivers know what it is like to have five-time world champion Sebastien Loeb breathing down their necks. Such is the Frenchman's recent domination of the World Rally Championship (WRC), Loeb's rivals - if you can call them that - usually fall by the wayside well before a championship's denouement.
Loeb, 35, is rallying's unrelenting king, and for the past five years he has proven it time and time again. Keeping Loeb at bay is the unsavoury predicament facing BP Ford Abu Dhabi's Mikko Hirvonen - three-points in front with a trio of rounds remaining - ahead of this weekend's Rally Australia, round 10 of the 12-event WRC series. One could forgive would-be heir Hirvonen for feeling more than a modicum of pressure. The steady Finn, however, does not doubt he is up to the task of ending the ruler of rally's reign.
"After Poland [round eight] I knew I had a chance to fight for the title," he said. "It's going to be difficult and we'll need to win all we can. "When you're in a championship fight with only three rallies to go, you need be flat-out all the time. It has to be that way if you want to win the title." This is the final WRC-specification season before the introduction of Super 2000s: cheaper, lower-spec cars the FIA hope will entice manufacturers to defy a recession inflicted global sales slump and return to rally service parks.
In a season notable only for the year-long battle between Loeb's Citroen and Hirvonen's Ford Focus, the championship leader knows now is his final chance to end Loeb's glorious run. "It would be fantastic to stop him, but it will also be great to get my first title while we're still in WRC cars," he said. "We'll see how it goes - I'm close, but still so far away. I need to avoid mistakes. If I get zero points in a rally now it's over."
Although Hirvonen registered his first WRC win the last time the series visited Australia - in 2006 - a new east-coast route has ensured no driver can claim to be the pre-rally favourite. "Loeb is fast and I have to do well in every remaining round. It can go either way, I'm not the favourite," said Hirvonen. Looking ahead, asphalt master Loeb is widely expected to triumph on Catalonian tarmac in Spain's penultimate round, and gravel specialist Hirvonen's title ambitions are pinned on strong performances in the favourable Australian conditions and the season-ending mudbath in Wales.
One win should do it, and maximum points this weekend - even with Loeb finishing second - would allow Hirvonen the luxury of knowing he can finish behind his arch-rival in the last two rounds and still be crowned champion. Hirvonen's record in new rallies - evident by career victories in Japan, New Zealand and Poland - could be a deciding factor this weekend. "I'm sure Australia will be a fast rally and we think our car will work very well - it should suit us," he said.
"Hopefully I can keep the record. I don't know why I seem to do well [in new rallies] but I'll be looking to keep it going." emegson@thenational.ae
