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Loeb will not contest Cambrian event

Sebastien Loeb has confirmed to AUTOSPORT that he will not tackle tomorrow’s Cambrian Rally - but he will test for an extra day in Wales on Sunday.

The Llandudno-based event had originally formed a part of Citroen’s pre-Rally GB test programme, but in the end the Frenchman elected to test alone as he prepares for his closest World Rally Championship battle since 2003. His title rival Mikko Hirvonen is driving his Ford as a course car on the Cambrian, which features similar roads to the GB stages.

“We thought about the rally, the event which Mikko is doing, but we are not going to do it now,” Loeb told AUTOSPORT.

A team spokesperson added: “When we heard that Mikko was doing the rally, we questioned this for ourselves and thought it was maybe an idea to do it. But finally, we agreed for Sebastien the better idea is to have one more day in the car himself. He will test alone on Sunday.”

Citroen completed its original pre-GB test in the week immediately after the Catalunya Rally, when Loeb drove for two days before handing the test C4 over to his team-mate Dani Sordo for the next two days. Sordo will not test this weekend.

There had been talk that Loeb’s entry on the Cambrian Rally would be taken over by fellow Citroen C4 WRC driver Petter Solberg, but the Norwegian scotched that idea shortly before beginning his test near Rheola.

“I want to prepare by myself,” said Solberg. “Rally GB is very important for me and I want more time than one day to get ready.”

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