Loeb (right) and Daniel Elena are chasing a fifth straight WRC title

France's Sebastien Loeb won his fourth straight Rally of Argentina to take the lead in the overall standings.

The Citroen driver, who also won the previous round in Mexico, finished two minutes and 33 seconds ahead of Aussie Chris Atkinson in a Subaru.

Loeb's team-mate, Spain's Dani Sordo, took third place on another tricky day in the rain and mud around Cordoba.

"I like difficult conditions but I thought today's were the hardest I've ever faced," said Loeb.

"But throughout the event we've had some extremely tricky weather. It seems to have been raining all the time and with the fog and the mud it was very difficult."

Loeb vented his anger over the weekend at the rule which meant drivers had to use hard compound tyres despite the wet, muddy terrain.

"In some places it was very hard to keep the car on the road at all," he said.

"Up to now we've been able to choose an appropriate tyre for the conditions. I hope we can do something to improve the limited options we have."

Loeb takes over the lead of the championship from Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen who was fifth after never recovering from mechanical problems on day one.

2003 world champion Petter Solberg, in second place overnight, saw his hopes of a podium finish dashed halfway though Sunday's opening leg.

He started the final day 48 seconds ahead of team-mate Atkinson, but an electrical failure brought his Impreza to a halt.

Solberg and Atkinson had been on course to record Subaru's first double podium since the Rally of Great Britain in 2003.

Rally of Argentina final standings:
1. Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen C4 5hr 05min 48.6sec
2. Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru Impreza at 2min 33.2sec
3. Dani Sordo (Spa) Citroen C4 4:04.7
4. Conrad Rautenbach (Zim) Citroen C4 20:03.5
5. Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford Focus 25:15.3
6. Federico Villagra (Arg) Ford Focus 27:42.0
7. Gigi Galli (Ita) Ford Focus 27:51.8
8. Andreas Aigner (Aut) Mitsubishi Lancer 28:59.3
9. Sebastian Beltran (Arg) Mitsubishi Lancer 30:04.9
10. Jari Ketomaa (Fin) Subaru Impreza 31:52.6

Stage winners: Loeb 5 (SS5, SS11, SS12, SS15, SS20), Peter Solberg 5 (SS10, SS14, SS16, SS17, SS18), Latvala 5 (SS3, SS6, SS8, SS19, SS21), Hirvonen 3 (SS1, SS2, SS4), Atkinson 2 (SS9, SS13), Galli 1 (SS7)