Stage 2 – It Becomes Complicated for Gronholm… and Ford?

Sébastien Loeb continued to push today while somewhat managing his lead. He still increased it over Gronholm and leads by 27 seconds over the Finnish driver.

New best time for Sébastien Loeb, who is pulling irreparably away from Marcus Grönholm. Alert for François Duval, who barely holds onto his fourth position at the end of this second day.

Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) finishes the day with the fifth best time out of six possible. Marcus Grönholm (Ford) concedes 5”4 and is 27”5 behind the rally leader.

The Finn was concerned upon arrival: « We lost some power and I have an issue with the gearbox control. »

« Incredible, I can’t go any faster », commented Gronholm after SS11, where he had lost five seconds to Loeb. « It’s not possible anymore. »

« It was a fantastic day »,” Loeb said. « I pushed hard and the gap was very small this morning… Now, it’s much better for tomorrow. »

Petter Solberg (Subaru) sets the third-fastest time ahead of his teammate Chris Atkinson (Subaru) and Dani Sordo (Citroën). Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Stobart), Xevi Pons (Subaru), and Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) complete the top 8.

Still hampered by mechanical problems, François Duval (Citroën OMV) loses nearly twenty seconds. The Belgian will be threatened by Latvala, Solberg, and Atkinson tomorrow. The four drivers are within less than thirty seconds of each other.

« It has been a very good day », said Latvala. « Unfortunately, Duval is experiencing difficulties, but he has been faster than I have been all the time. We will see what happens, we still have a long day tomorrow. »

See the standings after Stage 2