Sebastien Loeb continued his relentless pursuit of a third consecutive World Rally Championship title, notching up his latest victory in the Rally of Japan. Perhaps more importantly, though, Sebastien’s win now establishes him without question as the most successful rally driver of all time.

Japan took Sebastien to a career total of 27 race victories, taking him clear of Spaniard Carlos Sainz, with whom Loeb was previously paired on 26 wins. “If there is one record I wanted, it is this one,” Loeb told French sports daily L'Equipe. “It is the one people keep in mind. A bit like the 89 victories of Michael Schumacher in Formula One.”

Sebastien took only 81 rallies to break the record, compared to the 196 it took Sainz. “I was not hoping that much when I started, everything went very fast, especially these last two or three years,” said the reigning world champion.

Loeb, driving a Citroen entered by the Kronos team, beat Ford's Marcus Gronholm by 5.6 seconds to seal the victory. – 3 September 2006