Loeb pulls clear
Date published : 07 Mar 2010 - 07:31:21
Sebastien Loeb led by almost a minute after the second day of the Corona Rally Mexico.
The Frenchman, who has won the last six titles in succession in his Citroen, won the day's first stage at Ibarilla by over 10 seconds and never looked back, stretching his lead in each of the following seven stages.
Compatriot Sebastien Ogier won the final stage, Super Special 4, by 0.6 seconds for the junior Citroen team but the day belonged to Loeb, who admitted: "It was a perfect day. I was on the limit all the time, trying to increase my lead. Now we have more than 50 seconds it should be perfect, but we have to stay on the road and avoid any mistakes. That's the plan."
Norwegian Petter Solberg, also in a Citroen but driving for his own team, is Loeb's nearest challenger and is refusing to give up hope on a treacherous course.
"Even the second time through it's been very, very slippery but I still think we're doing well," he said.
Ogier believes a tactical move on stage 16 at Derramadero has left him in good shape to catch Solberg, who he trails by just 2.7 seconds.
"We slowed down at the end just to be third because it will be an advantage to be behind Petter on the road," he said. "We want to try to finish second. It's been a good day. We had one spin and one stall but that's okay. Sebastien has been extremely fast, but it was never my plan to fight with him - it's always been to fight with Petter."
The trio have, between them, won every stage thus far, leaving Ford duo Jari-Matti Latvala and championship leader Mikko Hirvonen trailing in fourth and fifth respectively.
Solberg's brother Henning follows in sixth but Spaniard Dani Sordo was one of three drivers to come off the track during a dramatic opening stage.
The Citroen driver damaged his suspension but hopes to return on Monday in the SuperRally along with BP Ford duo Matthew Wilson and Ken Block, who both crashed out into rocks.
