Sebastien Loeb is on the verge of an eighth Rally Germany victory and his fifth win of the 2010 World Rally Championship season as he continued to pull away this morning.
The Citroen driver is now 48.0 seconds clear of his team-mate Dani Sordo with just two full-length stages and a superspecial to go.
The leading positions seem settled bar any late dramas, with Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) conceding that he is unlikely to be able to beat Sebastien Ogier to third now that the Citroen Junior driver has extended his advantage to 19.3s. Petter Solberg continues to set rapid stage times, but is now very lonely in fifth for Solberg Citroen.
Sixth place remains hotly contested, though. Two errors on the opening Dhrontal stage meant Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen Junior) lost the position to Stobart Ford's Matthew Wilson, and the Briton holds a 6.9s lead over the former Formula 1 world champion as they head for service.
Mikko Hirvonen rejoined in eighth under superally this morning, only for further transmission problems to leave his Ford limping through the Moselwein stage in first gear, dropping him to 12th. Ninth-placed Ken Block had already retired the Monster Ford with alternator issues on the road section before the first stage.
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 3h30m58.0s
2. Dani Sordo Citroen + 48.0s
3. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 2m10.8s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 2m30.1s
5. Petter Solberg Citroen + 5m14.7s
6. Matthew Wilson Ford + 8m15.8s
7. Kimi Raikkonen Citroen + 8m22.7s
8. Khalid Al Qassimi Ford + 15m57.0s
9. Mark van Eldik Subaru + 16m01.3s
10. Patrik Sandell Skoda + 16m08.4s