Can Loeb sit on his points lead now?

[Yoong Montoya]

He now has a 22 point lead over Solberg with Martin and Gronholm 24 points behind. There are only 5 ralles remaining now. Do you think Loeb can sit on his points lead and play it safe for 2nd/3rd/whatever for the rest of the year? Given the points system and his 22 point lead, unless he has a DNF in one of the remaining rallies, I can't see him losing the championship this year.

[Dani Filth]

he doesn't have to . it's rally Germany next . he's gonna win it .. alongside .. the other tarmac rallies

[Kicking-back]

When you start trying to play safe is when you make mistakes.

Best to just keep the same approach as ever.

[garcon]

According to the schedule on www.wrc.com there's 7 rallies left!

Loeb's in a good position, but Solberg has shown he's probably the quickest driver out there - all he needs is a bit of good luck in terms of finishing and he could win the last three rallies. If I were Loeb, I'd be going all out for the win, especially on tarmac, until it's practically mathermatical.

Looking at what's left:

Germany - on tarmac, it must be a great chance for Loeb to extend that lead.
Japan - unknown quantity, gravel not too dissimilar to NZ and GB, which ought to suit Solberg
Great Britain - prime hunting ground for Solberg and Subaru, Loeb should look to finish in the points and hope he doesn't lose too much to Solberg and Gronholm.
Italy - WRC swaps the asphalt of San Remo for the gravel of Sardinia. Not easy to predict!
France - if it isn't over already, Loeb could finish the job on his home rally - must start favourite for this one.
Spain - all that corner cutting makes the tarmac more like gravel in places, but it's another one that should suit Loeb.
Australia - the final round, if Solberg has cut Loeb's lead, this could be his chance to nick it at the death...

Solberg's problem is that if the 307 improves its reliability, Gronholm will always be there or thereabouts to take points off him on the gravel rallies. Loeb knows he can win on tarmac, and probably only needs to win two more rallies to secure the title.

[Matti Alamaki]

Japan isn't that unknown for some, Citroen were there last year.

Title is Loeb's barring a "Catastroph"
Nobody can argue that he doesn't deserve to be WRDC.

It's a pity Solberg crashed out in Finland and couldn't get through the water splashes in Argentina. Things might of been a bit closer. Still, Solberg won't get close to Loeb on Tarmac. Nesbitt might!

[BootsOntheSide]

If he wins Germany (which looks likely) he'll lead by at least 30 points with 60 left. He'd still need to finish 3rd 4 times and 4th twice (off the top of my head - may not be exactly right) to take the title, so he can't ease off too much yet. Two more non-tarmac wins would probably be enough.

[429CJ]

I think, that Loeb has the coolest head of all present drivers, and it serves him well.

[Yoong Montoya]

Originally posted by garcon
According to the schedule on www.wrc.com there's 7 rallies left!

Oops, my mistake!

Still though, Solberg will need a DNF from Loeb to win the title. Then again, he was in the same position last year and still pulled it off in the end.

[R]

It will practically take a miracle for Loeb to not win the title this year IMO.

He is so consistent - even if he gets one or two DNFs, he will still finish well enough in the other events to win the title with points to spare. Petter has had too many DNFs and unfortunate mishappenings already this season.

To me the Loeb/Citroen combination is clearly the best of 2005, and as much as I'd love to see Petter take his second WRC title I don't think it will happen this year.

[gomick]

definitely (sit on points lead) - has been the class of the field all year - though marcos gronholm is still doing ok bar his puegeot problems