07 February 2004 - 22:42 Loeb getting closer to a major feat FIA World Rally Sweden - Leg 2

Sebastien Loeb will face the last leg of the Swedish Rally with a lead of around 40 seconds. Nothing is decided yet, especially with all the unexpected developments that happened throughout the second leg of this tricky race. However, if the positions stay the same, Loeb would accomplish a real feat, a true "first" in the history of the sport. Sebastien Loeb would become the first non-Scandinavian driver to win the Swedish Rally.

"Seb" simply magnificent
Loeb is not only one of the most talented driver on asphalt, the Frenchman is now able to compete against anybody on every other kind of surfaces as well. While most of his rivals made mistakes at one point or another today, Sebastien has been able to control his car in every situation.

On top of that, Loeb has captured three fastest stage times, bringing his lead up to around 40 seconds. An excellent day for the Championship leader and his team, with both Xsaras in the top 5.

Carlos Sainz was fourth at the end of leg 1 and then moved up to third in the early part of leg 2 until he went off the road, losing a full minute and 4 positions in the standings. However, the Spaniard decided to charge back through the field and is now fifth, only 8 tenths of a second away from fourth place.

Gronholm is undeniably fast
Marcus Gronholm was the first leader of the rally but had to let go following mechanical problems (power steering failure).

Despite this incident, the Finn continued his race on the attack mode, claiming a impressive number of fastest stage times. The Peugeot driver is now back to second place and was becoming a real threat for Loeb... until a small mistake in SS 12 made him lose an additional 15 seconds.

Peugeot are now considering the gap to catch Loeb too important... especially that the team needs to score points and Gronholm is their only chance to increase their championship score.

The reason is that Freddy Loix retired today after his Peugeot 307 WRC suffered from engine problems. The Belgian was never completely at ease this weekend, achieving modest results compared to Gronholm.

Solberg in a good position
Petter Solberg started the day in a dramatic way, going off the road in SS 6 and losing 45 seconds. The Norwegian was not able to reduce to gap over the leader of the race but at least the numerous retirements and incidents pushed him back up to third position.

Mikko Hirvonen also made a mistake but the young driver paid a higher price, losing seven minutes in SS 9. The Finn was nonetheless able to reach the end of leg 2 in ninth place.

Tuohino saves the day
Ford is certainly the biggest loser of the day. The team's lead driver, Markko Martin, was leading the race since SS 3 but made a mistake and went off the road. The Estonian lost six minutes in the situation, falling down to ninth place. Martin finishes the day in eighth place, with no more hope of winning the event.

Ford decided to select Janne Tuohino as their second driver to score Constructors' Championship points this weekend. A wise decision by the "blue oval" team since the Finn ends the day in a remarkable fourth place.

Francois Duval was mainly taking part in the Swedish Rally to gain more experience. The Belgian lost around 45 minutes when he went off the road in a deserted part of the stage.

Mitsubishi out of the race
Gilles Panizzi had to retire with transmission problems yesterday. This morning, it was Kristian Sohlberg's turn to end his race for the same reason.

Mitsubishi was concentrating on the development work of the new Lancer WRC 04 but the faulty transmissions put an end to their efforts.

Hugo GIGUERE
CAPSIS International [07/02/04 - 19:24]