Sebastian Loeb clinched his 7th WRC title in style, with a win in his home nation of France, and then cemented his unheralded superiority with another comprehensive victory, his 61st, at the penultimate round in Spain. Despite his complete dominance of the sport over the past 7 years, he nonetheless plans to retire at the end of next season.

Loeb was being pushed hard by fellow Frenchman and teammate, Sebastian Ogier, in Spain. But Ogier misunderstood a pace note and crashed out of the event on Sunday, leaving Loeb to cruise to another win on asphalt – a surface on which he has an incredible record.

Following Ogier’s exit, there was an intense battle for second between Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg. Solberg was quickest through the last stage, beating Sordo by just 0.7 seconds, to claim the runner-up spot by 5.8 seconds at the finish. Meanwhile, former Formula 1 champion, Kimi Raikkonen, was unable to take the start in Spain after crashing his Citroen in pre-race shakedown. The Finn, who has had a troubled first season in the WRC, is unsure about his plans for next year.

The Rally of France, meanwhile, was shifted from its traditional home on the island of Corsica to the Alsace region, near the German border. It obviously proved fortuitous for Loeb, as he wowed his home crowd to take the win, and title. “My first world title will always remain the best for me, but this one will have a special place in my heart. We won it after a very difficult race. It’s quite simply mind blowing to cross the finishing line in my home town, and it’s incredible to see so many people. I don’t think we’ve ever seen so many spectators at a rally,” remarked an overjoyed champion. Second place went to Dani Sordo, which gave Citroen their 6th manufacturers title. Third went to Norwegian driver and former WRC champ, Petter Solberg.

The final round in England will see an intense battle for second in the drivers standings as Ogier (167 points), battles it out with Finnish driver, Latvala (156 points), Solberg (151 points), and Sordo (140 points)