Loeb looks on course to repeat last year's Catalunya rally win

Overnight leader Loeb extended his lead over Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo to 34.5 seconds after a flawless run.

Gronholm, who had led on day one before engine problems pushed him back to 10th, battled back to fourth postion.

Xavier Pons' hopes of sealing a Citroen one-two-three ended when he went off the road while third on stage 10.

That allowed Frenchman Alex Bengue's privately-entered Peugeot to move into third.

Fellow Frenchman Loeb admitted he was forced into a change of tactic halfway through the day's racing.

It's close, but there's a long way to go Marcus Gronholm

"I drove carefully in the morning," said the 2003 champion. "But it was a bit too careful so I decided to go faster.

"Dani is pushing hard and being very, very fast, so it's not so easy to keep first place. But we will try to do it."

Gronholm, meanwhile, expects Bengue to fight to hold on to his slender advantage on Sunday.

He said: "It's close, but there's a long way to go.

"I'm happy with the car, and the times are good. Now we've just got to get to the end and try to be third."

Subaru's Petter Solberg, fourth overnight, struggled for grip and ended the day in seventh after losing 40 seconds on stage nine after spinning.

"We took a soft tyre this morning and found that the tyre was too soft for these conditions," said the Norwegian. "But the car is actually very nice to drive."

Standings after second of three days of Rally Catalunya: