Loeb moves closer to seventh world crown

Sebastien Loeb has moved a step closer towards clinching his seventh world title after completing Sunday’s opening brace of stages with his lead of Rallye de France firmly intact.

Loeb, who began day three with an advantage of 42.8 seconds over Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo, made it through the 24.7-kilometre Bitche Camp stage with a margin of 37.8s.

The French ace said he had not taken any risks during the morning but conceded his approach had made things more difficult for him.

“It was very fast and slippery [in Bitche Camp] with mud in places so I took no risk,” said Loeb. “I backed off but that made it much more difficult to be concentrated.”

Nevertheless, Loeb’s team boss Olivier Quesnel said he has no doubt that his star driver would be crowned world champion when the event finishes in Strasbourg this afternoon.

“Sebastien is Sebastien, a genius,” said Quesnel. “We can never be sure until the rally finishes but Sebastien is in control and we know what he is capable of.”

Sordo, who was fastest through the Bitche Camp stage, said he had been very lucky to still be in the rally after a water hose in his C4 became detached at the end of the Haguenau stage. “I was really lucky to see the problem and the car is now fine,” said Sordo. “It was very slippery in some places with more and more mud and gravel on the road.”

Petter Solberg’s bid for third place was on track when he completed the opening Haguenau stage, which is being run through Loeb’s home town, with the fastest time, while rival Jari-Matti Latvala lost ground by swiping a straw bale and inflicting cosmetic damage to the side of his factory Ford Focus. However, an off-road excursion for Solberg in Bitche, enabled Latvala to close to within 14.2s of the 2003 world rally champion. “We lost a lot of time,” said Solberg. “The conditions were very bad.”

Behind Hirvonen and Ogier, who completed Bitche Camp in fifth and sixth places respectively, Federico Villagra was able to pull clear of Matthew Wilson in their battle for seventh overall after the young Briton overshot a junction and lost 10 seconds.

Eyvind Brynildsen’s hopes of reclaiming the lead of the Super 2000 World Rally Championship category were shattered when he rolled his Skoda Fabia on the Bitche Camp stage. He was able to limp to the finish but said he would be retiring due to the damage he inflicted to his car.

It means overnight leader Patrik Sandell’s advantage in the class over Jari Ketomaa now stands at more than two minutes with two stages remaining. Joint title-leader Xevi Pons moved into third after Michal Kosciuszko suffered a spin in Bitche.

Armindo Araujo continues to head the Production Car World Rally Championship in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, while Jeremi Ancian is the top Junior World Rally Championship runner at the wheel of a Suzuki Swift Super 1600.