Loeb wins in Mexico

The 33-year-old Frenchman made no mistakes after taking the lead on the opening day in his Citroen and was able to ease off on the final morning of action and cruise to a 55.8 second win over the Ford of Marcus Gronholm.

Victory for Loeb was his second of the year and the 30th of his career. As well as that, he has moved into second place in the championship, only four points behind Gronholm.

Loeb said: "It was a very good performance. Our first win for the C4 on gravel too, and now we have a good fight."

On what was an otherwise processional day, even an expected battle for third place never came to fruition.

Less than 12 seconds separated Dani Sordo, Mikko Hirvonen and Chris Atkinson at the start of the day, but Ford driver Hirvonen proved to be the fastest driver of the day - quicker even than Loeb and Gronholm.

It was enough to see him overhaul Sordo's Citroen on the first stage of the day and clear off into the distance. Third place was a just reward for his efforts.

Sordo claimed fourth as Atkinson fell back during the day in his Subaru, but fifth was still a decent result on the debut of the Japanese manufacturer's 2007-spec Impreza.

Sixth was Manfred Stohl in a Kronos Citroen, with the three Stobart Fords next up. Jari-Matti Latvala was the first of them in seventh, while Britain's Matthew Wilson took his first point of the season in eighth and Hening Solberg claimed ninth.

There was more good news for British rally fans as Mark Higgins won the Group N class in tenth place overall in a Mitsubishi, but disappointment for Ford privateer Austin MacHale, who joined his son Gareth on the retirements list on stage 19.