Loeb: Getting into lead will be tough

Last time out in central America, Loeb turned a half-minute deficit into a 55-second lead on the second day. He says doing the same tomorrow will be much more difficult in Jordan.

"The Fords are much more competitive here than they were in Mexico," said Loeb. "I don't think it's going to be possible to do the same, I don't think so. I will push as fast as possible and try to make it the same [as Mexico], but the loose gravel is not so bad tomorrow - it's much worse on Sunday."

With Loeb's team-mate Dani Sordo dropping from third to sixth place, the second factory C4 WRC can have the final say in who runs where on the road on the final day of the Jordan Rally - but the Spaniard feels the 45s gap between him and rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala is too much.

"The gap is big now," he said. "Maybe it's too much, we'll see. I will push tomorrow and then we have a look tomorrow night. It's the team decision to go for this tactic."

Citroen team principal Olivier Quesnel admitted he was concerned at the high-risk strategy.

"It was our plan, but I don't know if it's the right plan," he said. "It was very complicated. We had to wait to see what Ford will do with Latvala before we decide what to do with Sordo, in the end we ask him to go behind [Mikko] Hirvonen. Dani can control the rally, but we don't know if this will work."

Quesnel admitted they had thought of running Sordo ahead of Loeb in third place, but the six-time champion saw no advantage to this.

"Seb said it wouldn't make much difference being third or fourth on the road," said Quesnel, "so we went this way. Like I said, I'm not sure if it will work. For me, this is not the sport. This is more like the America's Cup - except I don't have any boats!"