Sebastien Loeb won his seventh straight Rally Germany on Sunday and regained the lead in the overall drivers' standings.
The Frenchman, seeking his fifth world championship title, stalled his Citroen engine twice but had an otherwise uneventful drive to win by 47.7 seconds over Spanish teammate Dani Sordo.
"It's a fantastic win, I am very pleased," Loeb said. "It was a perfect rally except that this morning I was not fully concentrated and stalled the car twice."
Francois Duval of Belgium in another Citroen finished third, ahead of Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen of Finland, who had entered the 10th event of the season as the championship leader, one point ahead of Loeb.
"Seb is unbeatable here, I simply couldn't keep up with him," Hirvonen said.
By winning his seventh rally of the season, Loeb moved four points clear of Hirvonen, 76 to 72. Sordo is now third with 43.
