France's Loeb wins eighth German rally in a row

AFP - France's Sebastien Loeb, the defending and six-time world champion, on Sunday won the Rally of Germany.

Loeb finished 51.3 seconds ahead of Spain's Dani Sordo, with fellow Frenchman Sebastien Ogier in third, in a podium cleansweep for the Citroen C4 car.

The victory was Loeb's fifth this season and 59th in his rallying career, and nudges him closer to a seventh consecutive world title.

In a rally Loeb led from beginning to end, Ford works team driver Jari-Matti Latvala finished fourth while Citroen privateer Petter Solberg completed the top five places.

Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena now have 191 points in the drivers' championship, 58 points clear of their closest rival, Ogier.

The next rally will be held in Japan on September 10-12.