SS5: Loeb shows his speed again

Sebastien Loeb reasserted his authority on stage five of ADAC Rallye Deutschland, extending his overall lead up to 18 seconds.

On the preceding Mittelmosel stage, Jari-Matti Latvala had become the first man to outpace Loeb this weekend, as he pipped the FIA World Rally champion to the fastest time.

But Loeb not only got back on top with a rapid run through Moselland in his Citroen, he also saw Latvala dramatically lose pace.

After pipping the Frenchman on stage four, Latvala lost 12.7s to Loeb on stage five, going only seventh fastest and falling 10.8s away from his Ford team-mate Petter Solberg in their battle for second.

At the end of Mittelmosel Latvala had admitted that he had gone over the edge to take his stage win and would have to back off a touch, and after his slow time on the next stage he confessed that he had utterly misjudged his pace.

"Maybe I just backed off too much," said the stunned Latvala. "I know I need to be a little bit more careful, but maybe I was too careful.

"It seems I was very, very slow. I don’t really understand where it happened."

Latvala is now only 3.3s ahead of Thierry Neuville as the Citroen Junior driver closes on fourth.

Another battle getting tighter is the fight for fifth. With Mikko Hirvonen still struggling in the second factory Citroen, his cushion over Dani Sordo’s Prodrive MINI has dwindled to just 1.6s.

That is not just because of Hirvonen’s problems, though, for Sordo also raised his pace and went third-quickest on Moselland - a time he conceded had required a lot of commitment.

"It was a little bit better but I’m pushing really, really hard and taking a lot of risks," said Sordo.