Citroën's Sébastien Loeb made it five wins in a row with a maximum 50 world championship points on the Rally of Argentina over the weekend, extending his lead at the top of the 2009 World Rally Championship to 19 points.

Teammates Dani Sordo and Marc Marti, took second spot on the podium, just 73 seconds behind Loeb, to increase Citroën's lead in the Manufacturers’ standings.

Sébastien Loeb commented: ‘It’s always nice to win this rally. This year’s event was difficult to begin with and we had to drive flat out until Saturday lunchtime. The situation then tipped in our favour when Mikko Hirvonen hit trouble and we were able to control from in front after that. It’s been a dream start to the season for us!’’

The next event will be Rally Sardinia from 22-24 May.

FINAL LEADERBOARD ON RALLY CYPRUS

1. Loeb/Elena (Citroën C4)  3h57min 40.3s
2. Sordo/Marti (Citroën C4)   +1min 13.1s 
3. Solberg/Menkerud (Ford Focus)     +4min 04.1s
4. Villagra/Perez Companc (Ford Focus)    +5min 59.7s
5. Wilson/Martin (Ford Focus)  +6min 10.9s

WRC MANUFACTURER STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5 OF 12
1st Citroën Total WRT 82 pts
2nd BP Ford Abu Dhabi 43 pts
3rd Stobart VK M-Sport 37 pts
4th Citroën Junior Team 13 pts

WRC DRIVER STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5 OF 12*
1st S. Loeb 50 pts
2nd D.Sordo 31 pts
3rd M.Hirvonen 30 pts
4th H. Solberg 20 pts
5th P.Solberg 14 pts
6th M.Wilson 12 pts