his third and fourth season victories on the Portuguese and Argentinian rallies. Characteristically, he was once more to be found in the lead on the seventh round, the Rally d'Italia in Sardinia. On new stages on the final leg to those of the previous year, however, Loeb was once more to lament error and the surrender of probable victory, this time after crashing and breaking his car's suspension in a ditch. He left the lead in the hands of Grönholm, who won to propel himself seven points ahead of Loeb at the top of the championship standings. A second loss to the Finn in as many years on the Acropolis Rally then extended the deficit to nine points over the championship's summer break. Loeb occupied his recess by, amongst other engagements, competing in the Shell Donegal International Rally on 15, 16 and , partially as preparation for the coming Rally Ireland World Championship round that November. He scored a comprehensive victory, albeit only after being given a scare by the pace of tenacious private Subaru-driver Mark Higgins, who had a 45-second lead at the end of day one. Punctures afflicted upon his rival eventually settled the contest. Ambitions of finally scoring victory on Rally Finland proved once more unrealised, with Loeb relegated to third place behind the pacy natives Grönholm and Hirvonen. Rallye Deutschland, as was traditional, differed somewhat. At the scene of his first victory and on a rally where he had never subsequently lost, Loeb was left unexpectedly to fend off the challenge not of the Finn, but of a privateer, his one-time teammate and championship returnee François Duval. He eventually triumphed and reduced some of his championship points deficit. A very close battle on the gravel stages of Rally New Zealand ended with the second closest win in WRC history – Loeb finished only 0.3s behind his main rival. The next two rounds allowed the French driver to regain some points, as he won both tarmac events – Rallye Espana, where his teammate Dani Sordo took second place and two points from Grönholm, and Rally France. Rally Japan was another dramatic event – Loeb got the chance to take the lead in the Championship after Grönholm's early mistake, but he was unable to, as his co-driver's mistake caused the C4 to go off the road on one of the stages of second leg. Both drivers ended with