In the afternoon he took another stage win in SS15 as well as setting two second best times in SS14 and SS16 and a third best in SS17.
Following the repeat run through the 1.78 kilometre super special, in which he was second, he concluded proceedings still way out front, although the gap was reduced ever so slightly to 1 minute 19.6 seconds.
The final day, while still tough, caused the four-time world champion no problem and he took another stage win - his fifth of the event - before bringing his C4 WRC car home 2.5 minutes ahead of
Chris Atkinson.
"Believe me, it wasn't easy," said Loeb. "Given the delicate conditions, we had to stay doubly concentrated from start to finish."
Loeb now re-takes the lead in the drivers’ championship, 5 points ahead of Hirvonen, who drops to second.
Chris Atkinson meanwhile took the runners-up spot, after his team-mate,
Petter Solberg was forced out on the final day in SS19 with electrical problems. The Aussie moves up to third in the drivers’ championship and while he was happy to have survived he was disappointed to see 'Hollywood' go out so near the end.
"It’s been such a hard weekend it’s more of a relief to finish! Another podium is fantastic for us and for the team," he reflected. "It’s a real shame about Petter as he was going very well and we should have had two cars on the podium, but it demonstrates that we’re definitely moving in the right direction."
Daniel Sordo took the final spot on the podium, 1.5 minutes further back in his C4. The Spaniard had no real problems and like the other people on the rostrum couldn’t believe just how tough an event it had been.
"It would have been so easy to get caught out," he added. "It really has been a difficult event."
Fellow C4 runner,
Conrad Rautenbach was next up in fourth on only his second outing with the machine and while there was no doubt he did benefit from all the problems that hit the 'works' runners, he still put in a very intelligent and tactical drive and was justly rewarded.
