 Loeb is eight points behind Gronholm in the drivers' standings |
Sebastien Loeb led Marcus Gronholm by just 1.7 seconds after day two of the Rally of New Zealand. The Frenchman won Saturday's final stage in his Citroen by 5.4 secs to take the lead for the first time.
Loeb, chasing his fourth straight world title, is seeking to prevent Finland's Gronholm from claiming a record fifth victory in New Zealand.
Gronholm's compatriot and fellow Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen held onto third place going into Sunday's seven stages.
Championship leader Gronholm, looking for his third WRC crown, started the day 13 seconds ahead of Loeb.
 | I pushed really hard today and couldn't do better. I made a few mistakes but we are still on the road... just. It will be a hard Sunday, not a Sunday drive like usual |
That margin fluctuated between 3.6 and 14.9 secs as he and his closest rival engaged in a head-to-head struggle through the day's first five stages.
Loeb made a sound tyre choice early in the day and won the 17.2km (10.6 mile) opening stage by 3.1 secs from Gronholm to trim his lead to 9.9 secs.
The Finn won the next leg by five seconds, with Loeb fourth, to build his margin back up to nearly 15 secs.
Loeb stuck with hard tyres to take the 31.5m (19.5 mile) third stage of the day, winning by 11.3 secs to slash Gronholm's advantage to 3.6 secs.
Gronholm then edged Loeb by 0.4 secs on the fast 3.1km (1.9 mile) super special stage at Mystery Creek, but the French star fought back to win stage 10 by just 0.3 secs.
He then completed the day's 32.64km (20.2 mile) final stage in 16 mins 59.8 secs to beat Gronholm by 5.4 secs and edge ahead.
Rally of NZ standings after day two (11 of 18 stages):
1. Sebastian Loeb (Fra) Citroen, 2 hours, 47 mins 25.1 secs
2. Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Ford, 2:47.26.8
3. Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford, 2:48.37.6
4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford, 2:49:27.4
5. Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru, 2:49:37.9
6. Daniel Sordo (Spa) Citroen, 2:50:14.5
7. Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru, 2:50:51.0
8. Urmo Aava (Est) Mitsubishi, 2:54:42.3
9. Matthew Wilson (GB) Ford, 2:56:00.6
10. Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford, 2:56:10.3
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