Loeb establishes a commanding lead
MONACO, (Reuters) -- Citroen's Sebastien Loeb lived up to his billing as Monte Carlo Rally favourite by taking a commanding lead after back-to-back stage wins.
The young Frenchman, who last year led his team to a podium sweep in the most prestigious rally on the calendar, romped through the eighth and ninth stages after the seventh was cancelled.
Loeb was fastest in both, stretching his overnight lead from just 18 seconds to a more comfortable margin of one minute and 15 seconds.
Belgian Francois Duval mastered the treacherous conditions to power from fifth place at the start of the day to second after stage nine.
Estonian Markko Martin, second overnight, slipped back to third place some 16 seconds behind his Ford team mate while former champion Marcus Gronholm in the new Peugeot 307 was in fourth place.
Spain's Carlos Sainz, Loeb's team mate and a three times winner in the Mediterranean principality, was the main casualty of the morning.
The former champion was forced to retire from the rally, one of his favourites, after crashing on the ninth stage while running in fifth place.
Finnish newcomer Mikko Hirvonen also went out after spinning his Subaru.
Troubled start
For the second day in a row the rally made a troubled start with organizers cancelling the opening 34.4-km seventh stage between Lantosque and Col de Braus in the mountains north of Monaco.
That stage was abandoned after France's Nicolas Vouilloz crashed and broke the suspension of his Peugeot 206, which was left stranded in the road in foggy conditions.
Friday's opening stage had to be cancelled for safety reasons due to the number of spectators crowding into dangerous positions.
Saturday's decision to scratch the stage times surprised many drivers and was a disappointment for Norwegian world champion Petter Solberg, who had set an aggressive pace and was set to move up from sixth overnight.
"It's a shame that stage was cancelled, because it would have been a good time," said the Subaru driver. "I think I could have taken a place back, but that's just how it is."
Solberg, who pipped Loeb to the title by just one point last season, moved up to fifth after nine stages but was over three minutes behind.
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