New Citroen C4 WRC Car

Gymnast-turned-fastest driver in the world Sébastien Loeb returned to winning ways yesterday with victory on the Monte Carlo Rally.

It was an incredible victory in many ways: a win first time out for the new Citroen C4 WRC car, the fourth triumph for Loeb on the Monte (joining legends Sandro Munari, Walter Rohrl and Tommi Makinen on the four-time winner's list), and let's not forget that Loeb's broken arm is not yet fully healed.

Thirty-eight seconds back from the Frenchman was Loeb's teammate Dani Sordo, handing Citroen a one-two in the C4's debut.

Marcus Gronholm in the Ford Focus WRC joined the Citroen pair on the podium with a third-place finish.

Aussie Chris Atkinson had a strong run to fourth position in the Subaru, beating 2003 WRC champ and teammate Petter Solberg.

Gareth MacHale deserves a big-up too. Eleventh place in a four-year-old Ford Focus WRC is an extremely good result for the talented Irishman. He even beat Matthew Wilson in the 2006-spec Focus WRC...

The 2007 Monte Carlo Rally was a strange affair in many ways. The rally HQ was based in Valence, some 250 miles north of Monaco, and the weather throughout the event was unseasonably warm.

Oh, and the number of stages held in Monaco? One.

Loeb's looking dominant already. Boring for the 2007 WRC? Nah. Get yourself to an event and watch first-hand arguably the finest rally driver that's ever lived.

© Source: article on topgear