NO CONTEST; Sebastien Loeb faces zero opposition in Monte Carlo.(Competition)

Byline: ANTHONY PEACOCK

Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb claimed his fifth Monte Carlo Rally win during the opening round of the 2008 World Rally Championship, breaking the record of four event wins held by legends Sandro Munari, Walter Rohrl and Tommi Makinen.

Even Loeb admitted this win was easier than the others, if dancing on ice-strewn mountain roads can ever be called easy. With rival Marcus Gronholm's decision to retire at the end of last year, Loeb had a virtually unopposed run, finishing more than two and a half minutes ahead of Ford's Mikko Hirvonen.

"I'm happy to win again, but I miss the fights with Marcus,'' Loeb said. "Still, it's important not to fall into the trap of thinking that this year will be easy. Everyone said [the same thing last year] when I won in Monaco, and instead, it turned out to be a duel with Marcus right down to the final round.''

Hirvonen-Gronholm's successor as Ford's team leader-admitted he could do little about the Citroen. He did benefit from an unexpected stroke of luck when a broken turbo delayed Loeb's teammate, Dani Sordo, and let Hirvonen by for second place.

While Loeb and Hirvonen had a comparatively lonely run to the finish, a titanic battle for the final podium place lasted to the last stage held on Monaco's famous Grand Prix circuit.

Subaru driver Chris Atkinson was just 1.1 seconds ahead of privateer Ford driver Francois Duval. The duo set precisely the same stage time, meaning that Atkinson claimed only his second-ever podium by the same margin.