Loeb unsure how hard to push
Sebastien Loeb had admitted that he is unsure whether to push hard on Rally GB in his efforts to secure the drivers' championship, or respect Citroen team boss Guy Frequelin's wishes and play it safe to help Citroen secure the manufacturers' title
"I have to finish for the manufacturers' championship," admitted Loeb after his run through SS5, Resolfen. "They told me to push, but to be careful. It's difficult to know what to do."
Title rival Petter Solberg was fastest through the stage, although Loeb was just 3.5s slower, and there is still just 7.8s between the two. After memorably describing reports of the orders given to Loeb as "bullshit", Solberg has insisted that he isn't paying attention to events in the Citroen camp.
"I've got to do my job, and I have to concentrate on that," he said.
Although Solberg was fastest, he did have a small incident near the end of the stage, damaging his rear bumper when he slid briefly off the road, although the damage looked mostly cosmetic. "It was very, very slippery in some places," explained the Norwegian.
The two title rivals still appear to be in a class of their own, with both nearly 20s quicker than the third fastest man through the stage, Tommi Makinen. The Finn, who will retire following the event, reinforced his third position overall by pulling out another 3.9s on Colin McRae.
There was one change in position on the leaderboard following the stage, as works Peugeot stand-in Freddy Loix passed the privateer 206 WRC of Manfred Stohl for ninth overall.
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