Loeb stretches lead in Argentina

Solberg overcame Atkinson's eight-second overnight advantage by winning today's first stage, while Atkinson lost pace. The Australian was cagey about the exact nature of his issues.

"We can't really go any faster - we had something holding us back," he said at the end of SS11. "It's a small issue that we know about. At the moment I can't fight."

Despite his problems, Atkinson has stayed in touch with Solberg and heads for service just 4.1 seconds behind after winning the morning's final stage.

"It's tough, we want to have two Subarus on the podium," said Atkinson. "It's a fine line that we're walking down at the moment."

One and a half minutes ahead of the battling Subarus, Loeb (Citroen) maintains a comfortable advantage and is still faster than his pursuers - winning two of today's four stages so far.

The world champion was not impressed with the stage conditions though, with more rain having fallen overnight.

"The first stage this morning was terrible," said Loeb. "Very dangerous, a lot of mud, and with hard tyres with no cuts. I was happy to finish that stage. I'm taking no risks, just going through."

Further back, Ford's troubled rally continued as Stobart's Gigi Galli, Munchi's driver Federico Villagra and factory driver Jari-Matti Latvala all struck problems during the morning.

Galli has been embroiled in a tight battle for fourth with Citroen's Dani Sordo, and is currently just three seconds ahead. But the Italian arrived at the final time control with smoke pouring from the front of his Focus. He is currently attempting to get the car back to service.

Latvala's recovery drive took another blow when starter motor problems delayed him prior to stage 11. He is still eighth, but is now running out of position.

The most bizarre problem befell Villagra, who had to tie his throttle pedal to his foot to ensure he could close it after a problem within the mechanism.

"I think something like a spring inside broke," he explained. "I had to take the stages very slowly, but it works."

The unusual glitch has dropped Villagra to seventh, behind Stobart Ford's Matthew Wilson.

Leading positions after SS13:

Pos  Driver      Car          Time
 1.  Loeb        Citroen      2h41:05.4
 2.  P Solberg   Subaru       +  1:32.4
 3.  Atkinson    Subaru       +  1:36.5
 4.  Galli       Ford         +  2:46.8
 5.  Sordo       Citroen      +  2:49.5
 6.  Wilson      Ford         +  9:01.1
 7.  Villagra    Ford         +  9:59.5
 8.  Latvala     Ford         + 10:10.3
 9.  Rautenbach  Citroen      + 14:36.9
10.  Aigner      Mitsubishi   + 18:54.3