Grapevine: Rankings: Loeb cements third place

The Citroen driver's Rallye de France win matched his result on the corresponding event of a year ago, beating his team-mate Dani Sordo comfortably.

His result ensured that Red Bull Formula 1 drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber continued to hold onto the top two spots; Vettel matching Jenson Button's record of 28 straight weeks at number one.

Dario Franchitti remained ninth - and two places behind Will Power - despite beating the Australian to the IndyCar crown at Homestead. Franchitti's Ganassi team-mate Scott Dixon won the race, but could not move up from 18th place in the Castrol Rankings.

Despite the events at Homestead and in France, the only change to the Castrol Rankings top 10 was as a result of the Kansas NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Kevin Harvick's third place - plus his fourth in the accompanying Nationwide Series event - moved him back ahead of Denny Hamlin (11) and Robert Kubica (12) and into 10th, while Greg Biffle's victory allowed the Roush Ford man to move up one spot to 33rd.

The biggest gain in the Castrol Rankings this week was made by Ben Hanley (723), who won the opening Superleague Formula race at China's new Ordos circuit and made up 440 spots. Italian F3 regular Frederic Vervisch (554) won the other race and made up 120 places.

Victory at Petit Le Mans went to Peugeot's Stephane Sarrazin (115), Pedro Lamy (163) and Franck Montagny (187), with the latter's 85-place rise being the biggest gain for any of the trio.

Highcroft HPD pairing David Brabham (86) and Simon Pagenaud (54) wrapped up the LMP crown. They lost three and eight places however as their fourth place in the race did not match either of their results from last year's season finale.

Romain Grosjean (75) sealed the Auto GP crown with a win at Monza and Luca Filippi (59) was also a winner. Both, however, lost a spot. There were gains however for European F3 Open racers Marco Barba (610) and Vitor Correa (1250), who took victories at Monza.

To see the full Castrol Rankings, visit www.castroldriverrankings.com