KEY POINTS:
World champion Sebastien Loeb and his Citroen Total team have slammed the start order rules used in the world rally championship despite their domination of the New Zealand round over the weekend.
The French team took advantage of the misfortune that befell his BP Ford rivals to finish one-two through Loeb and Spaniard Dani Sordo.
BP Ford's Finnish pair of Mikka Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala had occupied the top two places before striking disaster on the rally's penultimate stage yesterday.
Hirvonen had a puncture and then a spin on the picturesque Whaanga Coast leg, west of Hamilton, but was able to continue and finish the event third overall.
But the damage to Latvala's vehicle after he hit a rock and spun meant it had to be parked on the side of the road.
The result increased both Loeb's lead in the driver standings and his team's margin at the top of the constructors' championship.
However, a major talking point over the rally's three days was the use of tactics to gain the best road position.
On gravel surfaces, the first driver out has the disadvantage of being the sweeper, giving the cars that follow a cleaner racing line.
Late on Saturday, Loeb deliberately slowed down to avoid leading the rally and being first out in the five stages that made up the final day.
On Friday, he had also conceded the lead when he was given a 30-second penalty for being late to the beginning of a stage, although he maintained he had a genuine problem with starting the engine.
After claiming a record-extending 42nd victory of his career, Loeb, who was pipped by just 0.3sec in New Zealand 12 months ago by now-retired Finn Marcus Gronholm, argued for a return to the rules that applied in the WRC last year.
Then, the leading group started the following day in reverse order.
"The problem is that people are only talking about tactics and that's not good," he said.
"For me, the regulation last year was really good. It was tough to be championship leader on day one, then it was really close and interesting for the next two days."
Loeb's co-driver, Daniel Elena, said the present format was "completely wrong" and suggested that it led to a phoney war over the opening two days while teams jockeyed for position.
"I prefer the fight we had with Marcus last year," he said.
"I prefer to fight for three days than have this. Now, we all know it's two days of nothing. On Thursday and Friday night, we can go to the discotheque and have a party."
Citroen Total principal Olivier Quesnel said he tried to get the WRC to make changes last month, but found that his team were the only ones to make the request.
Despite playing tactics on Saturday, Quesnel said he still opposed the rules.
"I hope it will stop because I don't think it's good. Even if we are used it now, it's stupid."
- NZPA
