SLIGO, Ireland (AFP) - World champion Sebastien Loeb cruised to victory in his Citroen C4 on Sunday to win the Rally of Ireland, the first leg of this year's World Rally Championship, repeating his 2007 triumph by seeing off teammate Dani Sordo.
Loeb won by 1min 27sec to bag his 48th career title alongside Monegasque co-pilot Daniel Elena.
Finn Mikko Hirvonen was third in his Ford Focus, more than two minutes off the searing pace that five-time champion Loeb had set from the outset despite the atrocious, rainy conditions.
Loeb had set out his stall by dominating the proceedings Friday and Saturday and in the 19th and final special around Donegal Town he successfully kept his rivals at arm's length.
Aussie Chris Atkinson of Citroen failed in his bid to deprive Ford Focus driver Henning Solberg of fourth place after he ran into difficulty in the 18th special but still held onto fifth at the expense of junior world champion Sebastien Ogier.