Loeb wins all stages; Gronholm leads

The Frenchman began the day in eighth after restarting the event under super-rally regulations with a five-minute penalty, thanks to his crash in SS6 yesterday.

Loeb's Kronos-run Citroen Xsara was not badly damaged in the accident, and he demonstrated why he has won the last three Monte Carlo Rallies by winning all five of today's stages to put himself within touching distance of a podium position.

There should have been six stages today, but SS11, the 18.73 km stage from La Tour sur Tinee to Utelle, became the second stage of the rally to be cancelled following traffic congestion.

SS3 was cancelled yesterday after traffic blocked most competitors getting through morning stages.

Loeb's chances of victory in the event are slim, because he is still 2 minutes and 40 seconds behind rally leader Marcus Gronholm.

However, second place is well within the Frenchman's grasp, having more than halved the gap to second place, from one minute and 20 seconds to little over 35 seconds.

Gronholm continued to be on the pace in his first run in the new Ford Focus and now holds a comfortable 2:11 advantage over Toni Gardemeister.

The double world champion now has to safely negotiate six stages in tomorrow's third leg, or just 116.60km, before he can claim his first Monte Carlo Rally victory.

Gardemeister, in a privateer Peugeot, has been involved in a superb battle with Manufacturer 2 OMV Peugeot driver Manfred Stohl.

Gardemeister held the position for the morning's first two stages but Austrian Stohl got past thanks to a strong performance on SS9.

However, Gardemeister has ended the day in second, having been the fastest driver other than Loeb on the final stage of the day, the first running of the famous Col de Turini.

Stephane Sarrazin looks set to salvage something from the weekend for Subaru, after their lead driver Petter Solberg retired form the event last night with an oil leak.

Sarrazin rests in fifth, with more than a minute and a half's advantage over third Subaru driver Chris Atkinson.

Reigning Junior World Rally Champion Danni Sordo ended the day in seventh as he looks to score points on his first event in WRC machinery, driving a third Kronos Racing Citroen Xsara.

Sordo's Leg Two highlight was the second fastest time on SS10, 18.6 seconds slower than teammate Loeb.

Henning Solberg, brother of Petter, had a nightmare day in the OMV Peugeot. He started the day in 12th but was the only leading runner who opted for studded winter tyres, whereas the rest of the pack opted for slicks on the drier stages. He ended the day in 16th.

Privateer Mitsubishi runner Gigi Galli restarted the day under super-rally regulations following his crash two kilometers into SS4, but the Italian retired from the leg after SS8 with gearbox problems.

Leader board after Leg Two:

Pos  Driver        Make     Time
 1.  Gronholm      Ford     2h 36:10.2
 2.  Gardemeister  Peugeot  +   2:05.9
 3.  Stohl         Peugeot  +   2:08.8
 4.  Loeb          Citroen  +   2:41.6
 5.  Sarrazin      Subaru   +   3:03.4
 6.  Atkinson      Subaru   +   4:42.8
 7.  Sordo         Citroen  +   5:01.6
 8.  Panizzi       Skoda    +   5:20.0
 9.  Hirvonen      Ford     +   5:27.3
10.  Pons          Citroen  +   6:22.9