Hirvonen five points ahead of Loeb

Ford's Mikko Hirvonen won the Rally of Jordan yesterday to retake the world championship lead from Citroen's Sebastien Loeb.

The 27-year-old Finn beat Loeb's Spanish team-mate Dani Sordo by one minute 15.7 seconds, with his first win of the season moving him five points clear at the top of the standings after five events.

Frenchman Loeb, the four times world champion who was seeking his third win in a row, failed to score a point after a bizarre head-on collision in Saturday's second leg.

Hirvonen has 35 points to Loeb's 30, with Subaru's Australian Chris Atkinson on 28 after taking the final podium placing in Jordan's first appearance on the world championship stage.

"That last stage was so nerve racking; I had no split times on Dani and no idea how fast he was going," Hirvonen told the official wrc.com website.

"I'm really happy to win and take the 10 points. Sebastien is still a big threat though. He was very fast here, so we need to find some more speed for the next events."

Sordo had led at the start of the final leg. Ford's Latvala regained the lead but lost it again on the 18th stage when his suspension broke and ended the rally in seventh place. Sordo spun early in the final stage but hung on for second.