 Loeb held the lead at the end of days one and two |
World champion Sebastien Loeb won the Rally of Catalunya on Sunday to extend his lead over Marcus Gronholm in the drivers' championship to nine points. Fellow Citroen driver Dani Sordo took second, while Gronholm finished in third place for Ford.
Loeb was 48.2 seconds clear of Sordo for a comfortable win.
The usual post-race celebrations were muted though, with a minute's silence observed as a tribute to Jorg Bastuck who died in an accident on Friday.
Bastuck, a co-driver for Aaron Burkart, died after being hit by another car while changing a wheel in the Junior World Rally Championship race.
Loeb, who achieved his 22nd career win and his second in a row in Catalunya, was able to take it relatively easy on the third day after establishing a sizable lead on days one and two.
Gronholm, on the other hand, pushed hard to take third ahead of Alex Bengue's privately-entered Peugeot with Jan Kopecky in fifth.
The Finn won 10 of the rally's 16 stages, but paid the price for mechanical problems on day one.
 |  A nine-point lead is very useful |
"It was not an easy rally," said Loeb.
"Usually on tarmac we are a bit faster than all the others, but this time it was not the same.
"A nine-point lead is very useful as Marcus Gronholm has a lot of potential. He can be dangerous so I'm really pleased to have taken these points here.
"Marcus was really fast. He was a bit unlucky and that stopped the fight. Also, Sordo was fast, so I think in Corsica (the next race) it could be difficult and very interesting."
Britain's Matthew Wilson came 13th after wheel problems saw his Stobart Ford Fiesta grind to a halt on stage 14.
Rally of Catalunya results:
1 Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citro�n Xsara 3hr 22min 01.7sec
2 Daniel Sordo (Sp) Citro�n Xsara +48.2
3 Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Ford Focus RS 1:45.8
4 Alexandre Bengue (Fra) Peugeot 307 2:01.9
5 Jan Kopecky (Cze) Skoda Fabia 2:57.2
6 Francois Duval (Bel) Skoda Fabia 3:37.8
7 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru Impreza 3:48.2
8 Stephane Sarrazin (Fra) Subaru Impreza 4:36.4
9 Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford Focus 5:01.6
10 Gilles Panizzi (Fra) Skoda Fabia 5:04.4
Driver standings:
1 Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen 36pts
2 Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Ford 27
3 Dani Sordo (Spa) Citroen 14
4 Manfred Stohl (Aut) Peugeot 11
5 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 10
6 Daniel Carlsson (Swe) Mitsubishi 6
7 Toni Gardemeister (Fin) Peugeot 6
8 Gian-Luigi Galli (Ita) Mitsubishi 5
9 Alex Bengue (Fra) 5
10 Henning Solberg (Nor) 5
11 Stephane Sarrazin (Fra) 5
12 Chris Atkinson (Aus) 5
Manufacturer standings:
1 Citroen 44pts
2 BP-Ford 42
3 Subaru 31
4 Peugeot 21
5 Stobart Ford 10
6 Skoda 8
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