As the motorsport season starts to draw to a close, the various championships are being decided. Seat have won the WTCC manufacturer title and Lewis Hamilton has been crowned Formula 1 World Champion. Now, somewhat inevitably, Sebastian Loeb has secured his fifth consecutive WRC championship.

By securing third place in Rally Japan in their Citroen C4, he beat his championship rivals with one round to spare, the Wales Rally GB. Loeb has dominated this season in the C4, winning 10 rounds this year, and with the help of co-driver Daniel Elena has beaten the previous record of four championships that was jointly held by Juha Kankunnen and Tommi Makinen.

“It’s a fantastic feeling. I really wanted to wrap up the title in Japan to enable us to go into Wales Rally GB with a totally free mind. That made the weekend very long and frustrating. The title just seemed to loom larger after every stage, but it was well worth the wait in the end.” – Sebastian Loeb