Frenchman Sebastien Loeb edged closer to a fifth consecutive World Rally Championship title when he stormed to victory in the Rally of New Zealand yesterday.

Loeb was heading towards a minor placing but had a slice of luck on the penultimate stage when the two drivers ahead of him?- Ford pair Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen?- both spun out.

The mishaps allowed Loeb to lead home a Citroen one-two with Spanish teammate Dani Sordo finishing 17.5 seconds behind the Frenchman. Hirvonen was third, 41.5 seconds behind Loeb. Petter Solberg of Norway was fourth in a Subaru.

Loeb extended his lead in the championship to eight points with just four rounds remaining, giving him a good chance of winning his fifth successive title.

The Frenchman had started day three in third behind Latvala and Hirvonen.

Although he pegged back some time on Hirvonen during the day, the difference seemed too great to make up heading into the 29.72-kilometer stage around the picturesque Whaanga Coast.

Hirvonen, who was 15.3 seconds up on Loeb, suffered a puncture two-thirds of the way into the stage then spun towards the end while trying to make up lost time. Earlier Latvala was forced to retire after he hit a rock on the gravel surface and spun, causing his engine to lose its oil.

The misfortunes of the two Ford drivers meant Loeb only had to avoid trouble over the final 3.14km sprint at Mystery Creek to claim his second Rally of New Zealand title.

"I thought it was over and we'd lost the chance," Loeb said.

"Then it all changed and we were leading again. But this was really a difficult rally, changing all the time, with some strategy coming in too.

"I needed to win for sure, and that's very nice, but I'm not happy for what happened to Mikko because he was doing really well."

The win extended Loeb's record to 42 wins and doubled his margin over Hirvonen in the driver standings.

The drivers have a month off before the Rally of Spain, followed by races in France, Japan and Wales.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily September 1, 2008)