Loeb will now have his sights set on a fourth world title

The Citroen driver won nine of the 15 stages to finish almost 24 seconds ahead of Gronholm's Ford Focus, with Dani Sordo a further 20 seconds back.

It was Loeb's seventh victory in 13 rallies and cuts Gronholm's world championship lead to four points.

If Loeb wins the three remaining rallies he will retain his title.

606: DEBATE Can anyone see someone emerging as a genuine contender to Loeb next year? Son_of_Perry

He said: "We get two points back from Marcus. We could not do better than victory and unfortunately no-one managed to finish between us.

"Obviously we are in a better position than two races ago, when we were 10 points behind."

Gronholm said: "I had no chance, so it's good to be second. It looks OK for the rest of the season."

Rally of Corsica final standings:
1. Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen 3hr 28min 31.5sec
2. Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Ford +00:23.700
3. Daniel Sordo (Spa) Citroen 00:44.300
4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford 02:30.500
5. Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 02:42.100
6. Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru 03:53.800
7. Jan Kopecky (Cze) Skoda 08:02.900
8. Xavier Pons (Spa) Subaru 09:34.200
9. Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford 10:12.200
10. Alessandro Bettega (ITA) Ford Focus 18:20.800