Loeb leads after day two in Jordan

Sebastien Loeb will take a 24-second lead into Saturday’s final day of the Jordan Rally after ending Friday’s competition with a fastest time though the repeated Jordan River stage.

Earlier in the day Loeb said he was hoping for a 30-second cushion over Ford rival Jari-Matti Latvala, to counteract the disadvantage of running first on the road through Saturday’s remaining eight stages.

In the event, he accepted a margin of 27.7sec over the Finn who holds third place after Sebastien Ogier unexpectedly moved ahead into second.

The last stage position switch - which Ogier claimed was intentional - is likely to benefit Latvala on Saturday.