Motorsport: Loeb leads in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES - World champion Sebastien Loeb has boosted his hopes of a fourth straight win after charging from seventh to first on the opening day of the Rally of Argentina.

Finland's Marcus Gronholm, second in the championship standings for Ford, had led the Frenchman by a narrow margin until a transmission failure forced him to stop on Friday's stage eight.

Norwegian Petter Solberg, who had set the pace for Subaru in the morning only to be overhauled by Gronholm and Loeb, moved back up to second place despite hitting a post. He suffered two punctures and incurred a 10-second penalty for being a minute late to a time control.

Solberg ended the day 19.8 seconds behind Loeb's Citroen. Italian Gigi Galli, in a privately-entered Peugeot, was running third with Austrian Manfred Stohl, also in a Peugeot, fourth after winning the day's final 10th stage.

Loeb, who has an 11-point lead in the standings after winning the last three races, spun halfway through the day's opening stage in the hills north of Cordoba but won the next two to roar back into contention.

Further wins on stages seven and eight cemented the comeback.

"I am trying very hard," the Frenchman had said before Gronholm hit trouble. "I'm at the maximum because Marcus and Solberg are also pushing. It's very difficult to make a difference."

Gronholm's hopes of reducing the championship gap evaporated when he stalled on stage eight and then found he could not engage any gears. He had hit a hefty rock on the previous stage.

Team mate Mikko Hirvonen, who had been third, also hit trouble after that eighth stage, pulling over to protect the engine from damage after it went down to two cylinders and a change of spark plugs failed to make a difference.

It was not known whether the Fords would be able to rejoin the rally on Saturday, with considerable time penalties, under 'SuperRally' rules.

Solberg, the 2003 champion but without a win since September last year, had promised 'maximum attack' from the start and kept his word.

"It's been quite a busy morning, I think we've had a little bit of everything," said the Norwegian after stage six.

"We hit a wooden gatepost shortly after the start of stage four and that knocked out (co-driver) Phil (Mills)'s side window, so the car was full of dust from then on.

"The right tyre broke up four km before the end of stage five and then the front left went soft at the end of stage six."

They incurred the penalty before stage nine after a delay caused by the car falling off its jacks while they were changing front and rear wheels.

Gronholm had led Solberg by 1.8 seconds after Thursday night's superspecial sprint stages in Cordoba's floodlit soccer stadium.

- REUTERS