Once again Rally GB provided the setting for the climax of the WRC rally season with the title going down to the wire. After a dominating run in the first half of the year for Sebastien Loeb and Citroen, Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen had continued to chase hard which meant a win in Wales could bring him the World Championship he wanted so badly, but this Rally GB was not be one that would deliver the title to the Fin.

Wales in November has always been a challenge that teams face with a degree of trepidation, with reputations won and lost in the often treacherous conditions found in the the forests. This year proved no exception with the second day claiming the scalp of Hirvonen after an off which caused him to retire bitterly disappointed. His retirement in turn now had secured the World title for Loeb who was still showing no signs of slowing. Meanwhile his teammate Latvale appeared to be going from strength to strength, reveling in the conditions and his confidence growing with every stage.

Come Sunday, Loeb and Latvale were separated by just six seconds and the cool Frenchman was put under serious pressure from the off. As Latvale chased him down he then received news that Loeb was out! An accident on a road section had caused him to retire. All Jari-Matti had to do was bring the car home fast and safe for first place which he duly did. And Latvala’s victory wasn’t Ford’s only reason to celebrate as Ford Fiestas claimed nine out of ten of the slots, a truly impressive result particularly for M-Sport who had prepared all the cars, so a very strong season’s end for the Cumbrian based team.

So once again Sebastian Loeb has proved what an outstanding driver he is. With eight WRC titles now to his credit, he tops the seven world titles achieved by Michael Schumacher in Formula One, which incidentally they both achieved using NGK spark plugs to take them to victory. So with NGK sparked cars claiming the top three places in this years’s WRC Championship, it’s been a brilliant end to a hard fought season and proof if proof were needed, that if you want to be a winner, you need to fit the best. NGK!