 Loeb continued his dominance over the day's six stages |
Sebastien Loeb stayed on track for a record fifth Monte Carlo Rally victory by extending his lead on the penultimate day of action. The defending world champion clocked the fastest time in all but two of the day's six timed stages.
He moved further ahead overall after the withdrawal of his Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo, who was second when he had to retire with an engine problem.
Frenchman Loeb now leads Ford's Mikko Hirvonen by two minutes and 10 seconds.
"It was a perfect day for us. We handled things very well," said Loeb.
"Conditions weren't easy at the start of the day - it was dark during the opening special - then it was foggy during the second and there were patches of frost in places."
Subaru's Chris Atkinson was the fastest through the day's penultimate timed stage, beating Loeb by almost 10 seconds to become the first non-Citroen driver to win a stage so far in the event.
The Australian lies in third overall, more than three minutes off the pace.
There will be four timed stages on Sunday before the rally ends with a sprint on the harbour section of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?