Sordo closes in on Loeb

The Citroen teammates continued to be the class of the field, but it was Sordo that really shone, especially in the 46-kilometre stage that started the day.

Sordo took 16 seconds out of Loeb on the first stage, and the world champion could only respond by winning SS4 by just one tenth of a second, before the Spaniard triumphed again on SS5.

It means that Loeb's overnight lead of 23 seconds has been cut down to just six, but Sordo was adamant that he is not battling with his teammate.

"The car is very nice, it is very easy to drive," said Sordo. "But for me the objective is to beat the Fords, not Sebastien."

Loeb put his first stage time down to tyres, but at the end of the loop of stages he admitted to being concerned by the pace of his young teammate, and he predicted a scrap for the lead.

"We saw in Germany last year what Dani is capable of on Tarmac," said Loeb. "I didn't have the confidence first thing this morning, so it will be a big battle now."

Marcus Gronholm lost further time to the Citroens with a gear selection problem, but the Finn is in a comfortable third place with nearly one minute back to Chris Atkinson.

The Australian moved up to fourth as Mikko Hirvonen and Petter Solberg struggled with the long opening stage of the day, but he is under pressure from Manfred Stohl and Toni Gardemeister.

Hirvonen and Solberg currently complete the top eight, but by the end of the morning they were back on form and on course to catch the battle ahead of them.

"I didn't have a good feeling at all this morning," said Hirvonen. "I don't know what was wrong, we were just slow. I need to wake up a bit."

Jan Kopecky is back in ninth place after a brief spell ahead of Solberg, while Jean-Marie Cuoq completes the top 10.

Pos  Driver          Make           Time
 1.  Loeb            Citroen       1h11:10.7
 2.  Sordo           Citroen        +    6.6
 3.  Gronholm        Ford           +   36.2
 4.  Atkinson        Subaru         + 1:34.1
 5.  Stohl           Citroen        + 1:36.8
 6.  Gardemeister    Mitsubishi     + 1:38.9
 7.  Hirvonen        Ford           + 1:51.3
 8.  Solberg         Subaru         + 2:03.1
 9.  Kopecky         Skoda          + 2:06.9
10.  Cuoq            Peugeot        + 2:39.5