Loeb was never behind on the tarmac stages around Trier on his way to his eighth win of the year and his fourth in Germany.

An 18-point tally for Loeb and the now in-form Duval have moved Citroen back ahead of sister company Peugeot, who nevertheless proved they are the best of the rest with third and fourth for double champion Marcus Gronholm and Markko Martin.

Loeb – who now has a tally of 93 points to Gronholm’s 61 – just has to finish eight points ahead of Gronholm in the upcoming Wales Rally GB to secure his second title.

“Of all the wins I’ve taken here, this one was the easiest,” he said.

“It was a good fight with Francois, but it was clear from the second day that everything was going to be okay. It was slippery with all the loose gravel on the road, but the fact that it didn’t rain made a big difference.

“Really it would have been fun to fight more closely, but no-one likes driving in the rain.

“The car has been fantastic from start to finish. If you’re going for the title you can never relax, but now we have a good advantage.”

Gronholm’s third place overall, which he admitted from the start was the best he could hope for, helped the Finn consolidate second place in the drivers’ standings as Subaru struggled.

Petter Solberg, 2003 title-winner, initially struggled to match the pace of the similarly Pirelli-shod Peugeots in Germany, but his challenge was stymied by gearbox problems on leg two.

Stephane Sarrazin was a comfortable match for his more experienced team-mate but also hit trouble with a lack of handbrake and a time-costly leg one that ultimately put him out of the fight.

Both Solberg and Sarrazin recovered to finish in the points in seventh and eighth overall but a solid sixth place for works Ford driver Roman Kresta ensure that the Blue Oval stays 10 points ahead in the manufacturers’ title chase.

The Czech did well but failed to hold off a concerted attack from Mitsubishi’s Gigi Galli for fifth in the closing stages as both the rookie drivers emerged ahead of their more experienced team-mates.

Harri Rovanpera – whose last tarmac event was in Sanremo in 2002 – struggled for speed in the lead Mitsubishi and finished 10th, while Ford’s Toni Gardemeister had good reason to feel disappointed after electrical problems cost him 20 minutes and dropped him from fifth out of the running on yesterday’s second leg.

Skoda had another nightmare rally – Alex Bengue crashed on the opening leg and was withdrawn while Armin Schwarz spun out of his home event on yesterday’s second leg and damaged his engine.

Czech Jan Kopecky was on course to score a potential ninth place until he lost a wheel on today’s morning loop of stages.

Works Subaru driver Chris Atkinson was never truly on the pace on his tarmac debut but finished 11th, just ahead of Ford privateer Dani Sola, who impressed at times and briefly held fifth yesterday before hydraulic problems knocked him back down the order.

Citroen privateer Xavier Pons finished ninth, but it was a bad rally for his Austrian team-mate Manfred Stohl, who retired from the rally yesterday.