 Loeb leads the drivers' championship by one point from Petter Solberg |
Sebastien Loeb took the lead in the world championship after wrapping up victory in the Rally of Italy. The French Citroen driver led from the first morning and never looked likely to relinquish that position on Sunday.
Loeb's winning margin over title rival Petter Solberg was nearly a minute, with Marcus Gronholm fighting back for third after rolling his car on Friday.
Loeb now leads the championship standings by one point from Subaru's Solberg after five rounds.
Britain's Mark Higgins saw world championship points slip from his grasp when he was 12 minutes late for a time control, earning him a two-minute penalty which dropped him to 10th.
Rally of Italy - final standings:
1 Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen 4hours 6mins 33.7secs
2 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 4:07:23.3
3 Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot 4:09:41.0
4 Markko Martin (Est) Peugeot 4:10:46.0
5 Toni Gardemeister (Fin) Ford 4:15.03.0
6 Roman Kresta (Cze) Ford 4:16:02.9
7 Anthony Warmbold (Ger) Ford 4:16:33.5
8 Juuso Pykalisto (Fin) Citroen 4:16:54.9
MMIX
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