Six-times world champion Sebastien Loeb cruised to an easy victory in the Rally of Mexico to move top of the drivers' standings after two races with a 6 point gap to Finn Hirvonen who finished 4rth.
The Frenchman, who started the day in first place for Citroen almost a minute ahead of Norwegian Petter Solberg, finished 24.2 seconds ahead of the pack for his 55th victory at world championship level.
Citroen driver Solberg and Sebastien Ogier were left to scrap it out for the runner-up spot, providing a thrilling finale. The Norwegian former world champion narrowly trailed Frenchman Ogier going into the decisive Super Special stage but set the fastest time to beat the Citroen Junior Team driver to second overall by 1.1 seconds.
Loeb, who has now won in Mexico four years in a row, commented in the end of the rally.
"I had a good lead today and was not going to take any risks with that when I started first on the road. I was just breezing through the last couple of stages trying to keep my concentration. It's a good victory; I'm back in the lead of the championship and the points we lost in Sweden we've won back - that's important.
