 Loeb won the opening event of the season in Monte Carlo last month |
World champion Sebastien Loeb has pulled out of the Swedish Rally after he rolled his Citroen during the fourth stage on Friday. Loeb's campaign for a fifth world title got off to a flying start with victory in the Monte Carlo Rally last month.
But he was forced to pull out after the incident caused a clutch problem.
The Frenchman's exit allowed Finn Jari-Matti to take a 48-second lead over fellow Ford driver and compatriot Mikko Hirvonen.
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Latvala claimed all six of the stages on the first full day, and Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson promised not to let team orders prevent Latvala from claiming his first WRC win.
"I don't see why Jari-Matti can't win this rally," he said.
"There won't be any orders from the team. It's really no different to the situation when Mikko won Norway ahead of Marcus Gronholm last year."
Henning Solberg finished the day in third position 56.3 seconds behind the lead while team-mate Gigi Galli was a further six seconds behind in fourth.
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