Loeb still on top in Catalunya

The Citroen driver completed the day's stages 27.7 seconds ahead of his Citroen teammate Dani Sordo, and with third-placed Francois Duval 51 seconds adrift in the best of the Fords.

The only tiny blip for Loeb came when his unbroken run of stage victories was ended by Mikko Hirvonen in SS11 and Duval in SS12, but Loeb admitted that he had been cruising for much of the afternoon

"I lost some time in this one, but it was really tricky with lots of gravel and stones, so I didn't want to take any risks and have a puncture or to make a mistake, so I took it very easy," he said after SS12. "At the moment, it's perfect."

Sordo insisted he was still pushing, although his second place is the ideal result for Citroen's championship aspirations.

"It's a very good day," he said. "I try all the time to go faster, but Sebastien's rhythm is incredible."

Ford have managed to stop Citroen pulling away this afternoon, and although Duval and Hirvonen - who ended the day 13.2 seconds apart in third and fourth - are too far behind to challenge for victory unless Loeb and Sordo hit trouble, they felt they had made a minor breakthrough.

"I think I've figured out something that has been wrong and the times have been improving," said Hirvonen. "But I'm sure the Citroens are not pushing as hard as they could, so it's difficult to say, but it's better anyway."

While the top four are providing little action, the remaining points positions are still being hotly contested.

PH Sport Citroen driver has crept closer to fifth-placed Petter Solberg (Subaru), and a very quick time from Aava in the final stage means that the two cars will start leg three just 1.4 seconds apart.

"Now it's fun again," declared Aava.

They have pulled away from Chris Atkinson and Jari-Matti Latvala's battle for seventh place. As had been the case in the morning, Atkinson appeared to be escaping from Latvala, only to lose time in the final stage, leaving the Subaru driver just 3.4 seconds ahead.

"We were just struggling with the clutch in there," said Atkinson. "We didn't take any risks because it didn't feel comfortable."

But Latvala, back at Stobart Ford this weekend as his factory drive has been temporarily handed to Duval, was far from happy with his day's work despite remaining in touch with the Subaru.

"It's been difficult. I'm not satisfied," he said. "But let's try to get to the end and look forward to Corsica. It's been steady and clean, but the times aren't good."

Andreas Mikkelsen (Ramsport Ford) has fallen away from the points battle in ninth place, but has a comfortable two-minute cushion over 10th-placed Matthew Wilson's Stobart Ford. The Briton is under slightly more pressure as PH Citroen's Conrad Rautenbach has eased away from his earlier dice with Subaru's Brice Tirabassi and closed to within 17.3 seconds of Wilson.

Leading positions after day two:

Pos  Driver              Car      Time
 1.  Sebastien Loeb      Citroen  2h22:57.2
 2.  Dani Sordo          Citroen   +   27.7
 3.  Francois Duval      Ford      +   51.4
 4.  Mikko Hirvonen      Ford      + 1:04.2
 5.  Petter Solberg      Subaru    + 3:06.9
 6.  Urmo Aava           Citroen   + 3:08.3
 7.  Chris Atkinson      Subaru    + 3:42.7
 8.  Jari-Matti Latvala  Ford      + 3:46.1
 9.  Andreas Mikkelsen   Ford      + 4:17.2
10.  Matthew Wilson      Ford      + 6:25.8