Story highlights
Frenchman close to securing Monte Carlo Rally for sixth time
Loeb has two-minute, 41-second lead with short final stage left on Sunday
Spain's Dani Sordo will secure second barring any last day mishaps
World champion Sebastien Loeb is virtually assured of claiming a sixth Monte Carlo Rally victory after maintaining his lead through Saturday’s night stages.
The Citroen driver finished the fourth day two minutes 41.6 seconds ahead of Dani Sordo in his Mini and now only Sunday morning’s five-kilometer power stage stands between Loeb and victory.
“We have one small stage tomorrow but at the moment it has been great and really fantastic to drive those stages with an atmosphere like that,” the Frenchman said, AFP reported.
“It’s a real pleasure for me to be here and leading the rally right now.”
The ‘indestructible legend’ of the Monte Carlo rally
Petter Solberg in the Ford continued to make up ground in the battle for second place, shaving Sordo’s lead down to just 18 seconds, but will have to rely on errors from the Spaniard if he is to overhaul him.
Loeb’s teammate Finn Mikko Hirvonen has settled for trying to secure fourth place after he lost seconds after spinning out earlier in the day.