From the World Rally Championship
Citroen Total team drivers Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo completed the second day of Rallye Deutschland in first and second place, in perfect team formation and - thanks to a last stage puncture for Mikko Hirvonen - with a comfortable gap to third.
It was the perfect day for Loeb, who remains on course to win his seventh consecutive Rallye Deutschland and retake the lead in the drivers' championship.
The Frenchman ended the day with a rally lead of 40.3 seconds - even after reducing the power of his C4's engine to preserve it for the two rallies it will do later in the year.
Loeb set a WRC record with 14 consecutive stage wins on Rally Cyprus in 2005, and almost matched that today until his team-mate ended his run on SS14. Loeb, however, said he wasn't expecting to win them all anyway. If he maintains his domination, Loeb will win this rally for the seventh time tomorrow.
After a frustrating Friday, when he struggled to find a comfortable feeling in his C4, a revitalised Dani Sordo knocked Mikko Hirvonen off second place on Saturday's opening stage and stayed there ever since.
The Spaniard steadily extended his lead throughout the day, before Hirvonen's puncture on the last stage handed him a 1min 4sec cushion to third.
After a strong performance on Friday, Hirvonen struggled to find the same form today. His podium aspirations were dealt a severe blow on the final stage when a left-hand rear puncture 8km before the finish cost him almost 40 seconds and dropped him to fourth.
Promoted by Hirvonen's misfortune, Francois Duval of the Stobart Ford team is third overnight, 3.9sec ahead of the Finn. Duval set a string of top five times but said his inexperience in the Focus was still holding him back.
Petter Solberg rounds off the top five after an encouraging day in his Subaru Impreza WRC2008 which ended with a third fastest time on SS14.
Standing at the end of Day 2, in Germany :
1. Loeb-Elena (Citroën C4 WRC) in 2.32'22"6
2. Sordo-Marti (Citroën C4 WRC) at 40"3
3. Duval-Pivato (Ford Focus RS WRC) at 1'44"3
4. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC) at 1'48"2
5. Solberg-Mills (Subaru Impreza WRC) at 2'28"7
6. Atkinson-Prévot (Subaru Impreza WRC) at 3'32"1
7. H.Solberg-Menkerud (Ford Focus RS WRC) at 4'33"4
8. Aava-Sikk (Citroën C4 WRC) at 4'57"1
Etc.
Citroen Total team drivers Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo completed the second day of Rallye Deutschland in first and second place, in perfect team formation and - thanks to a last stage puncture for Mikko Hirvonen - with a comfortable gap to third.
It was the perfect day for Loeb, who remains on course to win his seventh consecutive Rallye Deutschland and retake the lead in the drivers' championship.
The Frenchman ended the day with a rally lead of 40.3 seconds - even after reducing the power of his C4's engine to preserve it for the two rallies it will do later in the year.
Loeb set a WRC record with 14 consecutive stage wins on Rally Cyprus in 2005, and almost matched that today until his team-mate ended his run on SS14. Loeb, however, said he wasn't expecting to win them all anyway. If he maintains his domination, Loeb will win this rally for the seventh time tomorrow.
After a frustrating Friday, when he struggled to find a comfortable feeling in his C4, a revitalised Dani Sordo knocked Mikko Hirvonen off second place on Saturday's opening stage and stayed there ever since.
The Spaniard steadily extended his lead throughout the day, before Hirvonen's puncture on the last stage handed him a 1min 4sec cushion to third.
After a strong performance on Friday, Hirvonen struggled to find the same form today. His podium aspirations were dealt a severe blow on the final stage when a left-hand rear puncture 8km before the finish cost him almost 40 seconds and dropped him to fourth.
Promoted by Hirvonen's misfortune, Francois Duval of the Stobart Ford team is third overnight, 3.9sec ahead of the Finn. Duval set a string of top five times but said his inexperience in the Focus was still holding him back.
Petter Solberg rounds off the top five after an encouraging day in his Subaru Impreza WRC2008 which ended with a third fastest time on SS14.
Standing at the end of Day 2, in Germany :
1. Loeb-Elena (Citroën C4 WRC) in 2.32'22"6
2. Sordo-Marti (Citroën C4 WRC) at 40"3
3. Duval-Pivato (Ford Focus RS WRC) at 1'44"3
4. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC) at 1'48"2
5. Solberg-Mills (Subaru Impreza WRC) at 2'28"7
6. Atkinson-Prévot (Subaru Impreza WRC) at 3'32"1
7. H.Solberg-Menkerud (Ford Focus RS WRC) at 4'33"4
8. Aava-Sikk (Citroën C4 WRC) at 4'57"1
Etc.