Motorsport: Loeb stays ahead

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb retained his lead and Colin McRae consolidated third place as the 70th Monte Carlo Rally resumed in the French Alps this morning.

Loeb, in only his second event in a world rally car - he was second on his debut in San Remo last year - was fourth fastest on the opening special stage of 7.2miles in his Citroen.

But the 27-year-old only conceded little over a second to closest challenger Tommi Makinen to still lead the Finn by a comfortable margin of 35.4 seconds.

Makinen, bidding to become the first man to win the world’s most prestigious rally four years in succession, was second fastest on the stage but by fractions of a second from the Ford Focus of McRae.

The 37-year-old now leads McRae by just under nine seconds. Both drivers are on 23 career wins and victory this weekend would make either the most successful driver in rally history.

Makinen’s Subaru team-mate Petter Solberg clocked the fastest time on the stage as the drivers returned to the icy Alpine roads after the overnight halt in Monaco.

Solberg’s pace allowed the Norwegian to extend his cushion over the Peugeot of England’s world champion Richard Burns to over 51 seconds in the battle for sixth spot.

Burns, on his debut in the 206, continued the cautious start he made yesterday and will spend the rest of today’s five stages learning the car.

Loeb, meanwhile, is confident he can maintain his lead and confirm his status as the next star of world rallying having served notice of his talent last year when he won the Junior World Championship.

‘‘There is still a long way to go but if I can carry on like I am then I can win here,’’ said Loeb.

Former world champion Marcus Gronholm is fourth for Peugeot with Carlos Sainz, also on 23 career wins, fifth in his Focus. Alister McRae is 11th on his Mitsubishi debut.