Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb enjoyed a 15-second lead after seven special stages held Friday at the Rallye de France Alsace.
Ford Fiesta driver Jari-Matti Latvala showed great speed early in the day but Loeb, who is on the verge of clinching a 9th World Rally Championship title, pushed hard his Citroen DS3 to take the lead.
Latvala complained that his Ford was not fast enough on the dirty portions of the road.
So after SS7, Loeb led Latvala by 15.6 seconds.
Loeb's teammate Mikko Hirvonen was third, already 33 seconds down the leader.
Ford's Petter Solberg (who complained about the mud on the road) was fourth ahead of the MINI of Dani Sordo who is suffering from some brake problems.
One more stage, SS8 in Nulhouse, had to be run later Friday night.
Ford Fiesta driver Jari-Matti Latvala showed great speed early in the day but Loeb, who is on the verge of clinching a 9th World Rally Championship title, pushed hard his Citroen DS3 to take the lead.
Latvala complained that his Ford was not fast enough on the dirty portions of the road.
So after SS7, Loeb led Latvala by 15.6 seconds.
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| Sebastien Loeb, Citroen DS3. (Photo: Citroen Racing) |
Loeb's teammate Mikko Hirvonen was third, already 33 seconds down the leader.
Ford's Petter Solberg (who complained about the mud on the road) was fourth ahead of the MINI of Dani Sordo who is suffering from some brake problems.
One more stage, SS8 in Nulhouse, had to be run later Friday night.