LOEB WINS FIFTH TITLE IN A ROW.(NEWS)(Automobile racing)

Another World Rally Champion-ship record fell to Sebastien Loeb, as the 34-year-old Frenchman claimed his fifth consecutive world title on the Rally Japan with a third-place finish. Loeb broke the record established by Finland's Tommi Makinen, who won four titles from 1996 to 1999. A 1-2 for Ford drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala ensured that the manufacturers' title fight between the Blue Oval and Citroen will go down to the year's final round, in Great Britain next month.

It was clear from the start that Loebwho needed only a third-place finish to clinch the title, even if title rival Hirvonen won the eventwould not push to the limit. But with an all-new Rally Japan route this year, he could not afford to relax.

Hirvonen led from the start, followed by Latvala and the privately entered Ford Focus WRC of Francois Duval, which kept Loeb down in fourth. Then Duval had a big accident that stopped the rally briefly and left co-driver Patrick Pivato in the hospital.

Duval slid wide on a fast and muddy section of road, crashing into a steel pole on Pivato's side of the car. Pivato was trapped in the car for a bit more than half an hour before being extricated by medical crews and flown to a hospital in Sapporo. He underwent an initial operation to stabilize a broken pelvis and a broken right leg; two subsequent operations were done to stem internal bleeding. The 45-year-old Frenchman's recovery is expected to take several months, and he will not be able to be flown out of Japan for at least three weeks.

When action resumed, Loeb held the third place he needed, which he maintained to the end.

The fledgling Suzuki team scored its best-ever result on home territory in Japan, with the SX4 WRCs of Per-Gunnar Andersson and Toni Gardemeister finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, on the slippery gravel roads.

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