Loeb after yet another German win
You could be forgiven for thinking that the presence of Sebastien Loeb on this weekend's Rallye Deutschland will make the outcome of the latest round of the World Rally Championship a foregone conclusion.
With four wins behind him already this season, Citroen driver Loeb has a 48-point championship lead over Sebastien Ogier and an attractive looking run-in as he searches for a seventh world title.
The Frenchman is currently second in the Castrol Rankings behind his namesake Sebastian Vettel, and while he cannot overtake the German this weekend, he can strengthen his position ahead of Formula 1 title contenders Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton.
And strengthening his position seems likely too as the Frenchman has a strong connection to Rallye Deutschland.
His victory on the 2002 event was his first in the WRC and came in the same year that the rally became part of the championship as well.
Since then he has been untouchable, his fourth win in a row in 2005 breaking Dieter Depping's record on the event and his 2008 success making it seven wins in seven years, all in Citroen machinery.
To put it bluntly, he has been in a class of his own through the vineyards and military stages; only two-time world champion Marcus Gronholm, who finished 3.6s behind him in 2003, has even got close to challenging him.
Gronholm has long since retired from full-time competition though and the two Finns trying to emulate their countryman, Mikko Hirvonen (10) and Jari-Matti Latvala (22) have not won an asphalt WRC event between them.
While Francois Duval (1986) is having a one-off outing in a Stobart Ford and could well be a surprise victory contender, the greatest threat to Loeb's run of success should come from within the Citroen fold.
That could mean Dani Sordo (27) gets a shot at taking his maiden WRC success, especially as he has been promoted back into Citroen's 'A' team for the rally and has twice finished second in Germany.
Or it could provide a chance for Ogier (23), the man Sordo has switched places with, to add to his win in Portugal. If he does, then will move well inside the Castrol Rankings top 20. Ogier's Citroen Junior team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, could also be a factor.
The 2007 F1 champion has slipped to 41st in the Castrol Rankings this year while acclimatising to his first full year in rallying. However, he displayed top-three pace on the most recent asphalt event in Bulgaria before crashing out, and looks set to build on the experience he gained there.
A foregone conclusion? Not quite.
