Sebastien Loeb, along with Kronos Citroën World Rally Team were the defending rally winners, leading championship rival Marcus Grönholm by 33 points. Unbeknownst to Loeb, this would be his last rally of the season before breaking his arm in a mountain biking incident.[3] Despite this, Loeb would go on to win the championship by 1 point after his lead became unassailable in the 2006 Rally Australia.
Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena won the rally, their second consecutive win and eighth win of the season.[4]
Background
Entry List
The following crews were set to enter the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship and its support category, the Production World Rally Championship, as well as privateer entries that were not registered to score points in the manufacturer's championship. Fifteen were entered under World Rally Car regulations, as were ten in the Production WRC category.[5]
Friday began with multiple drivers suffering from issues. Gronholm struggled with dust in the car and overheating issues, but would still set the quickest opening three stage times of the day, putting him in the lead. Loeb was not too far behind, hindered by being the first on the road. Petter Solberg suffered from numerous issues including a puncture, brake issues, and overheating, but still managed to put in the fastest time in stage 4.[7] His poor luck would continue, however, as he would have gear issues on the next few stages. Sordo, Gardemeister, and Wilson also suffered from serious mechanical issues. By the end of the day, Gronholm continued to lead, but Loeb had cut heavily into his advantage.[8]
Saturday morning would see Gronholm and Loeb trading stage wins, with under 10 seconds between them for the entirety of the stint. The pair were over two and a half minutes quicker than Hirvonen in third by the time they reached the mid-day service.[9] The afternoon, however, would be a dominant performance by Loeb, who took the lead and ended the day with over 20 seconds in hand. Gronholm blamed his struggles on a poor tyre choice. Atkinson would retire in a ditch in stage 15, while Henning Solberg struggled all day with a hot water leak spraying on he and his co-driver's face.[10]
On Friday, Loeb would continue to extend his advantage over Gronholm, and while the Finn would take some time back in stages 18 and 19, he admitted that he believed the rally to be lost by Service G.[11] Due to spectator concerns, Stage 20 would be cancelled, replaced by a simple demonstration through the streets. Despite this, Sordo would crash heavily in the stage, requiring extensive cleanup. This would result in Stage 21 being cancelled as well, but only after the Fords of Wilson and Companc had passed through, necessitating nominal times. Loeb would continue through the final stage to win the rally, his last victory of the season, with Gronholm finishing second. Loeb's victory would extend his championship lead to 35 points, with only 40 points available in the remaining rounds. Hirvonen would finish a distant 3rd, over five minutes behind Loeb. Petter Solberg would finish behind his brother Henning after striking a rock in the final stage.[12]
