The Citroen ace may have lost out by a fraction of a second to his Ford rival for the World championship Marcus Gronholm in the stunning setting of the Stormont super special stage last night but he shot to front when ‘real’ rally hit the border back roads today.
“I went straight into a junction and I lost time,” he reported. “I was not confident, it was very narrow. I am not driving well.”
The World champion was fastest on the first stage of the day at Geevagh near Sligo - and his Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo slotted into second, pushing Gronholm back to third.
But Loeb finished the stage complaining that he had damaged the rear suspension of the C4 and with just a five second lead over title rival Gronholm (and four ahead of Sordo), he feared he would struggle over the next two stages before it could be repaired at service. Sammy Hamill, BelFastTelegraph.co
Sébastien Loeb remains at the top of the general rankings, 10.4 seconds ahead of Dani Sordo. Jari-Matti Latvala is 1’03"2 further away in third position with Mikko Hirvonen a dozen seconds behind. Petter Solberg is safely in the fifth spot.
Loeb, who finished second to Gromholm in the opening stage Thursday in Belfast, Northern Ireland, won two stages Friday to take the lead.
Loeb’s Citroen teammate, Dani Sordo of Spain, was 6.8 seconds behind in second place, while Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland was 1:11.6 behind Loeb in third. SuperWheels.co
