Loeb set for win in Sardinia

Defending champion Sebastien Loeb looks set to win his second event of the current World Rally Championship season as he finished day two at the head of the field in Sardinia.

The Citroen driver started the day with a 33.2 second lead and despite being in the unfancied position of leader at the start of stage nine, usually seen as a disadvantage as the front-runner cleans the road for the following cars, he lost less than five seconds during the course of the day’s events.

The Frenchman told wrc.com that he was happy with his efforts for the day and believes the gap he holds over second-placed Mikko Hirvonen is enough to secure victory.

“It was a great day, a very hard day also, but a great day,” he said.

“It’s really difficult to accept losing time when you are cleaning the road in difficult conditions but we had to keep concentrated and continue to believe it would be okay. Twenty eight seconds should be enough but it’s still a difficult day tomorrow.”

In reality Hirvonen will be looking over his shoulder rather than targeting Loeb’s lead as both Sebastien Ogier and Petter Solberg are within 10 seconds of the Finn ahead of tomorrow’s four stages, but he still thinks he can catch Loeb while keeping his rivals at bay.

“Loeb was very fast in the last two stages and I wasn’t really able to take much time out of him,” he said.

“Petter and Ogier are very close and we will all have to go flat out tomorrow and that will keep the pressure on Sebastien. You never know what will happen.”

Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala threatened to steal Loeb’s headlines after being fastest in five of the six special stages. The Finn restarted under SupeRally regulations after retiring yesterday but shone with the pressure off.

Mini’s return to the sport was dented by Kris Meeke’s retirement yesterday but his team-mate Dani Sordo has impressed and sits sixth ahead of the final day.