Loeb extends advantage

Date published : 21 Aug 2010 - 19:30:37

Sebastian Loeb was on course to extend his streak of Rallye Deutschland victories to eight at the end of the second day of racing and enhance his position at the top of the World Rally Championship standings.

The 36-year-old Frenchman extended his advantage over Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo from a day one lead of 9.5 seconds to 35.7 seconds after winning three stages on Saturday and with five remaining on Sunday's final day of racing.

Sordo also claimed three victories on Saturday, while Petter Solberg won the day's remaining two stages.

Sebastian Ogier (Citroen) moved ahead of Rally Finland winner Jari-Matti Latvala (BP Ford Abu Dhabi) in the overall standings.

Ogier is more than two minutes behind Loeb, while Latvala is 2mins 23secs adrift entering the final day and Solberg is fifth, more than five minutes off the pace.

Frenchman Loeb lies 48 points clear in the title race ahead of compatriot Ogier with five rallies remaining this season - including this weekend's in Germany - and appears poised to extend his lead.

On the day's final stage Francois Duval crashed out, rolling his Ford Focus car around seven kilometres from the finish.

The Belgian and his co-driver escaped unhurt.

However, Duval's retirement impacted on the overall rankings as former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen) climbed to sixth and Matthew Wilson (Stobart Ford) moved to seventh.