Loeb and Sordo dominate Cork

Loeb took his second victory in Ireland this year to add to his success in Donegal, while Sordo, who was driving an older Citroen Xsara, was pleased with his first experience of the Irish roads.

"In addition to winning, the most important thing about the weekend was the fact that it enabled us to do some excellent work in a competitive context," said Loeb.

"The weekend gave us a valuable opportunity to test with Citroen Sport's engineers and technicians for Irelands WRC round."

The Frenchman, who is 10 points behind Marcus Gronholm in the World Rally Championship standings with five rounds remaining, admitted that he was still surprised by the roads in Ireland despite his previous experience.

"Thanks to our Donegal, we had a fairly shrewd idea of what we would find here," he added. "But I was once again surprised by how difficult the stages were.

"The stages we contested on Saturday were apparently similar to what we can expect in the north, so it was very worthwhile coming to Cork.

Sordo, who finished two minutes adrift of Loeb in his first event in Ireland added: "As soon as we started the recce, I realised what a good idea it had been to come and do this event.

"More than our actual performance, we concentrated on getting a feel for the terrain. It is really very different from anything else I know."

Ford's Mikko Hirvonen also took part in the event, but the Finn finished in fifth place, seven minutes behind Loeb.