Frenchman Sebastian Loeb's close loss to Marcus Gronholm in last year's Rally of New Zealand has spurred the world championship leader's determination to go one better in the 2008 rally starting today.

France's Sebastien Loeb in action during the shakedown stage of the Rally of New Zealand at the Mystery Creek Event Center in Hamilton yesterday.

Finnish-born Gronholm's winning margin of three tenths of a second last year was the smallest in championship history and prevented Loeb from repeating his 2005 win at New Zealand.

"We missed out on victory last year by just three-tenths of a second after one of the most thrilling fights the WRC (World Rally Championship) has ever seen," Loeb said. "I won't be able to take revenge this time though, because Marcus Gronholm isn't competing any more."

Loeb said New Zealand had become one of his favorite races. "The lush green backdrop to the stages is magnificent," he said. "The stages are fast and technically demanding, but the cars don't suffer. From the driving point of view, it's certainly one of my favorite events."

As championship leader, Loeb will start first in today's stages, a possible disadvantage because of the loose gravel which is swept from the road by the earliest starters.

"How big a handicap that turns out to be will depend on how damp the conditions are," Loeb said. "There are quite a few stages that we will only contest once, so we potentially stand to lose quite a lot of time. That said, the fact that we will be first on the road on day one means that we are on top in the championship, and we intend to do all we can to defend that lead."

New Zealand offers Ford and driver Mikko Hirvonen of Finland a chance to regain the lead in the manufacturers' and drivers' championships, conceded to Loeb and Citroen in the last round at Germany.

Hirvonen trails Loeb by four points in the drivers' standings after 10 rallies and Ford trails Citroen by eight points among manufacturers.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily August 29, 2008)