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Loeb Aims to Secure Title in Japan

Sebastien Loeb is only 6 points from securing his 5th world title inside the World Rally Championship and he insisted that he'll try to grab the title as early as the Rally Japan this weekend. With two more rounds to go in the championship – Japan and Great Britain – the Frenchman is holding a 14-point lead over second placed Mikko Hirvonen.

Loeb insisted that he won't be aiming for the win in Japan but try to score the necessary points to secure another world crown. His main objective for the closing rounds of this season remain keeping his world title and winning Rally Great Britain.

“If our rivals win, we will need to come away with at least six points. That means finishing in third place and we will start with that in mind and see how things unfold. We will always have the possibility of adjusting our pace to ensure we stay concentrated and don't make any mistakes,” said Loeb.

He added: “We are aware of how competitive our C4 is, and we will still have the Wales Rally GB to come afterwards. That takes away some of the pressure, but our objective will be to try to sew up the championship in Japan. I would like to wrap up the title in Japan so that we can focus our attention on winning when we go to Wales”.

The defending world champion has won no less than 10 events this season. His only success in Japan happened 2 years ago, when fighting Finland's Markus Gronholm for the world title. He then finished the rally 5 seconds ahead of his rival and made a decisive step to clinching his 3rd consecutive title in WRC. Last year, it was Gronholm's teammate Mikko Hirvonen who went away with the win after both the Fin and Loeb crashed out of the rally.

All WRC drivers will be driving through different roads this year, as Rally Japan now consists of totally different stages following a new location around Sapporo (Hokkaido was, until this year, the base of Rally Japan).
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