PARIS, Sept 25 - Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, who cruised to a record 28th career victory in the Rally of Cyprus on Sunday, is confident a third consecutive world title is now within his grasp.

The Citroen driver, who grabbed his eighth victory of the season on the treacherous tracks of the Troodos mountains, now leads Finland's Marcus Gronholm by 35 points with four races remaining.

Success in Turkey next month would give Loeb the world title.

"It is true we are close to the title. I will need to finish in the top four, it is something I believe we can do," he told French sports daily L'Equipe on Monday.

Gronholm, world champion in 2002, had taken an early lead in Cyprus but gave way to Loeb after spinning on a stage on Saturday afternoon.

"Now it would be stupid to let things go as we still have to grab points for the constructors' championship," Loeb added.

Loeb's Kronos Citroen team lead the standings with 142 points with Gronholm's Ford only seven points adrift.