Loeb compares his record win to Schumacher's mark

Double world champion Sebastien Loeb, who won the Rally of Japan to clinch a record 27th career victory on Sunday, says his new mark will be compared to that of Michael Schumacher in Formula One. "If there is one record I wanted, it is this one," Loeb...

Double world champion Sebastien Loeb, who won the Rally of Japan to clinch a record 27th career victory on Sunday, says his new mark will be compared to that of Michael Schumacher in Formula One.

"If there is one record I wanted, it is this one," Loeb told reporters yesterday.

"It is the one people keep in mind. A bit like the 89 victories of Michael Schumacher in Formula One."

The Frenchman, driving a Citroen for the Kronos team, beat Ford's Marcus Gronholm by 5.6 seconds after 27 stages in Japan to seal the win.

He had shared the previous record of 26 rally wins with the now retired Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who reached that mark from 196 rallies.

Loeb took only 81 races to beat the record.

"I was not hoping that much when I started," said Loeb.

"Everything went very fast, especially these last two or three years."

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