Loeb maintains lead after leg two

Gronholm had halted Loeb's dominant run of fastest stage times by winning the first passage through Santa Rosa at the start of the afternoon.

The Ford driver moved back to within 12.6 seconds of his title rival, but Loeb responded by going quickest in SS16 and SS17 and adding another seven seconds to his lead.

A return visit to Santa Rosa at the end of the loop saw Gronholm take another stage win, albeit by just 0.2 seconds from Loeb, who will therefore take a comfortable - if not commanding - advantage into leg three.

The lead duo are now alone at the front of the field after third-placed Petter Solberg stopped in stage 17 with apparent engine problems. The Subaru had been unable to keep pace with the Citroen and Ford during the afternoon, falling 40 seconds behind before retiring, but Solberg had still been on course for a podium, having established a 25-second lead over Mikko Hirvonen.

Solberg's departure handed Hirvonen a very secure third. The Finn is nearly a minute and a half behind Loeb, and a similar distance clear of the rest of the field, so he is now likely to cruise to the finish to ensure the six points.

Jari-Matti Latvala has advanced to fourth place after an afternoon of drama amongst the WRC midfield.

The Stobart Ford's progress was due in part to a series of top five stage times from Latvala, coupled with Chris Atkinson struggling for pace in his Subaru and Dani Sordo dropping from fourth to eighth after losing two minutes due to hydraulic problems in the second run through Santa Rosa.

Latvala's teammate Henning Solberg has been similarly impressive. The Norweigan began the loop in ninth after a muted morning that included a puncture in SS11, but Solberg set top five stage times all afternoon - including the third quickest time in SS16 - to move up to fifth. With just 12.8 seconds separating the two Stobart Fords, fourth place should come down to an inter-team battle on the final day.

Behind the struggling Atkinson, Manfred Stohl is now seventh in the OMV Citroen, ahead of the delayed Sordo.

Solberg is still classified ninth under SupeRally regulations, as the retirements of Matthew Wilson and Luis Perez Companc have created a large gap between the WRC cars and the Production class leader Federico Villagra at the foot of the top ten.

Tomorrow's final leg will be extended from four to five stages to ensure that the two-thirds of the original itinerary is completed - a mandatory requirement if the rally is to count for world championship points.

Pos  Driver     Make        Time
 1.  Loeb       Citroen     1h 44:13.0
 2.  Gronholm   Ford        + 19.2
 3.  Hirvonen   Ford        + 1:25.3
 4.  Latvala    Ford        + 2:32.0
 5.  H Solberg  Ford        + 2:44.8
 6.  Atkinson   Subaru      + 3:15.1
 7.  Stohl      Citroen     + 3:27.9
 8.  Sordo      Citroen     + 4:01.4
 9.  P Solberg  Subaru      + 10:39.9
10.  Villagra   Mitsubishi  + 11:31.7