Citroen Total drivers Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo dominated the second day of the Rally of Germany as title contender Mikko Hirvonen slipped to fourth place.

Loeb and Sordo finished first and second respectively while championship leader Hirvonen suffered a setback when he suffered a puncture on the final stage of the day.

It was the perfect day for Loeb, who remains on course to win his seventh consecutive Rally of Germany and regain the lead in the drivers' championship.

The reigning world champion ended the day with a lead of 40.3 seconds - even after reducing the power of his C4's engine after stage 13 to preserve it for two rallies later in the year.

Loeb set a WRC record with 14 consecutive stage wins in the Rally of Cyprus in 2005, and almost matched that feat until Sordo ended his run on the last stage.

The Frenchman was philosophical about the record, declaring that he did not expect a clean sweep.

He told www.wrc.com: "It's been a very good day, but we took a bit of power from the engine so it was always going to be difficult to win all the stages.

"The important thing is I have a good lead and it's looking very positive. I'm not taking any big risks, just concentrating on keeping a good rhythm and of course having fun."

His team-mate Sordo improved significantly after enduring a frustrating time yesterday, when he struggled to control his C4.

The Spaniard managed to edge past Hirvonen into second place on today's opening stage and steadily extended his lead throughout the day.

The Finn's puncture on the last stage handed Sordo an advantage of one minute and four seconds over third-placed Belgian Francois Duval.

"It's been a good day for the Citroen team and a good day for me," said Sordo.

"I'm really happy with the performance of the car and the tyres. My battle was always with Mikko and not Sebastien, so I'm pleased."

Hirvonen's podium aspirations were dealt a severe blow on the final stage when a rear-tyre puncture eight kilometres before the finish cost him almost 40 seconds.

However, the Finn did not dwell on his misfortune and hailed the performances of his rival.

"The car felt quite different today and I just couldn't match Dani," Hirvonen said.

"I need to be braver and I didn't have the confidence to drive flat out like yesterday. The nature of the stages was also different. I tried everything but we're just not there yet."

Asphalt specialist Duval, driving for the Stobart Ford team, benefited from Hirvonen's bad luck as he moved 3.9 seconds ahead of the Finn.

Leading positions after Stage 13: 1 Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen 2hrs 14mins 38.400secs, 2 Dani Sordo (Spa) Citroen 2:15:21.400, 3 Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 2:15:41.300, 4 Francois Duval (Bel) Ford 2:16:11.400, 5 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 2:17:01.600, 6 Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru 2:17:53.000, 7 Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford 2:18:50.000, 8 Urmo Aava (Est) Mitsubishi 2:19:10.900, 9 Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford 2:19:28.300, 10 Toni Gardemeister (Fin) Skoda 2:19:48.900

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