Loeb closes in on ninth Rally of Germany win

TRIER, Germany (AFP) –

Sebastien Loeb from France and his Moroccan co-pilot Daniel Elena in their Citroen DS3 WRC car race on August 24.

France’s Sebastien Loeb tightened his grip on the Rally of Germany to finish Saturday’s second day nearly two minutes clear of the field and is set to win his ninth title here in 10 years.

On the twisting roads around Trier in the Moselle valley, Loeb won three of Saturday’s six stages to go 1min 42.9sec clear of second placed Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland.

The 38-year-old Citreon driver has won seven of the 12 stages here, with three more to come Sunday, while his Citreon team-mate Mikko Hirvonen was third at 2mins 12.7secs off the pace.

“With a clear lead at the end of the second day, things look good,” said Loeb who leads the drivers’ table by 43 points from Latvala with four legs of the world rally championship left after this weekend.

There was bad luck for Norway’s Petter Solberg who was forced out while in second place after a mistake on the day’s third stage saw him damage his car’s right-rear wheel and suspension after striking a rock.

“It was my fault,” said Solberg.

“I lost the back end of the car in a very long left corner and I couldn’t get it back again. We slide and the car hit a rock.

“Unfortunately the damage on the rear-right was too big to continue.”