Reigning World Champion Sebastien Loeb raced to a convincing victory in the Propecia Rally New Zealand today. This was the French driver’s first win in 3 attempts on the New Zealand course, and in doing so has closed to just one point behind Subaru’s Petter Solberg in the Drivers’ World Championship.

Loeb was rarely challenged on the opening two days and started Sunday with almost a minute's lead. He controlled the final day after beginning with a commanding lead of 51.9 seconds, knowing that it would take a mechanical failure or driver error to let the chasing pack in.

Both Loeb and his Citroen Xsara were superb on the final day however, with a final winning margin of 49.8 seconds. The win was overdue for Loeb, who has been plagued by bad luck this season. After winning the WRC season-opener in Monte Carlo, he retired with engine problems in Sweden and struggled to fourth in Mexico after suspension setbacks.

As if to underline his dominance, Loeb incredibly posted another Special Stage record on the final stage (20) through the Whaanga Coast. Afterwards, the Citroen driver commented: “I’m very happy to win here, it’s one of the most exciting rallies, and to win with Marcus and Petter behind was very good. It’s looking better now we have had two rallies with problems and now it seems to be good.” -10 April 2005