Five times champion Sebastien Loeb won the season-ending Wales Rally GB yesterday to hand Citroen the manufacturers' title and become the first driver to triumph 11 times in a single year.

The Frenchman went ahead of Ford's overnight leader Jari-Matti Latvala on the final Port Talbot stage in South Wales to beat the Finn by 2.7 seconds for his first victory in the classic British event.

"This one was incredible," said Loeb, who had already clinched his fifth successive title in Japan last month, after chalking up his 48th career win.

"The ice made conditions really tricky. But today we had a good, good fight and it was exciting to fight with Jari-Matti."

Loeb roared through the penultimate Rheola stage and would have seized the lead there had he not collected a 10-second penalty for starting too early, leaving him still 2.2 seconds adrift of the Finn with 20km remaining.

Throwing caution to the wind, Loeb was 4.9 seconds quicker than Latvala on the final run to end Ford's hopes of a third manufacturers' title in a row.

"Finally we won and it's a very good feeling," said the Frenchman, who ended the year with 122 points from a maximum 150.

Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, winner in Britain last year, finished overall runner-up with 103 points after crossing the line eighth yesterday.

Loeb's team-mate Dani Sordo was third in Wales, one minute and seven seconds behind Latvala who was gracious in defeat.

Italy's MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi made it to the finish in 12th place in a Ford Focus, more than 13 minutes slower than Loeb.

Citroen ended the season with 191 points to Ford's 173 with Subaru third on 98.

Final standings
1. S. Loeb 122 points; 2. M. Hirvonen 103; 3. D. Sordo 65; 4. J.M. Latvala 58; 5. C. Atkinson 50; 6. P. Solberg 46; 7. F. Duval 25; 8. H. Solberg 22; 9. G. Galli 17; 10. M. Wilson 15.

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