Loeb in battle for triumphant finale

Newly-crowned world champion Sebastien Loeb is locked in a bitter struggle with Markko Martin for victory on the Rally Catalunya.

Loeb, who sealed the crown two weeks ago in Corsica, is aiming to celebrate that achievement with his first victory in five attempts after four consecutive second places.

Martin, fresh from victory in Corsica, is putting up a real fight though and Loeb leads the Ford driver by just two seconds after six stages today.

Martin’s team-mate Francois Duval had been part of a three-way scrap for the win but he lost almost 90 seconds on the last stage of the day to drop out of the battle for victory.

Duval, who is still chasing a maiden win despite an impressive season, won three stages today but will now have to fight just to claim a podium after dropping down to sixth.

Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm currently holds the final podium spot but he is nearly half a minute down on the leading pair.

Carlos Sainz has enjoyed steady progress in his last world rally on home turf after announcing his retirement last week. The Citroen driver is fourth after six stages.

Outgoing world champion Petter Solberg is again struggling on tarmac after his torrid time in Corsica and the Subaru driver finishes day one down in fifth.

Daniel Sola is seventh in a Mitsubishi with Mikko Hirvonen eighth for Mitsubishi.

Guy Wilks’ hopes of winning the junior world championship are in serious danger after the Darlington-born driver struggled over the first six stages.

Wilks is seventh, a minute down on leader Mirco Baldacci in the final round of the season for the junior class.

His Suzuki team-mate and main title challenger Per-Gunnar Andersson is running a strong second. If Andersson holds on to that spot Wilks must finish third to seal the crown.