Loeb increases lead after day 2 of Germany Rally

TRIER, Germany — Sebastien Loeb increased his lead after two days of racing at the Rally Germany and stayed on course for his seventh consecutive victory.

The Frenchman ended Saturday with a 40.3-second lead over Citroen teammate Dani Sordo of Spain.

Loeb won all but one of the day’s eight special stages — with the other one going to Sordo — despite reducing the power of his Citroen to preserve the engine for later rallies.

“It’s been a very good day, but now we’ve taken a bit of power from the engine so it’s going to be difficult to win all the stages,” four-time world champion Loeb said. “The important thing is I have a good lead for tomorrow and it’s looking very positive.”

Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen of Finland struggled in his Ford and dropped from second to fourth when a left rear puncture in the final stage cost him nearly 40 seconds.

Francois Duval of Belgium took advantage of Hirvonen’s mishap to move into third, 3.9 seconds ahead of the Finn.

“The car felt quite different today,” said Hirvonen, who leads Loeb overall by one point. “I need to be braver and I didn’t have the confidence to drive flat out like yesterday.”

Results Saturday from the Rally Germany, the 10th event in the World Championship: After 14 of 19 special stages.

1. Sebastien Loeb, France, Citroen, 2 hours, 32 minutes, 22.6 seconds.

2. Daniel Sordo, Spain, Citroen, 40.3 seconds behind.

3. Francois Duval, Belgium, Citroen, 1:44.3.

4. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, Ford, 1:48.2.

5. Petter Solberg, Norway, Subaru, 2:28.7.

6. Chris Atkinson, Australia, Subaru, 3:32.1.

7. Henning Solberg, Norway, Ford, 4:33.4.

8. Urmo Aava, Estonia, Citroen, 4:57.1.

9. Jari-Matti Latvala, Finland, Ford, 4:59.7.

10. Toni Gardemeister, Finland, Suzuki, 5:43.7.

11. Andreas Mikkelsen, Norway, Ford, 6:39.8.