Loeb closes in on WRC Monte Carlo winSebastien Loeb has a comfortable lead ahead of Dani Sordo with just one stage of Rally Monte Carlo to take place Sunday morning.
The world champion leads the event by more than half a minute from his Citroen teammate, with just a short superspecial stage around Monte Carlo left to run.
Loeb is aware that victory is not yet secured, but providing he can negotiate the stage around the swimming pool section of Monte Carlo then he will have his first 10 points of the season.
"It's been a great weekend for us," he said. "To begin the season like this will be a great result.
"I'm really happy for Citroen. We had a good fight with Dani, and hopefully we can end the season like this as well."
The new Citroen C4 is set to score a one-two finish on its WRC debut with Sordo still in a comfortable second place, while Marcus Gronholm is satisfied to be heading for a third place.
The Finn said: "After the first day we never had a chance to battle the Citroens here, but we can beat them on the snow in Sweden and Norway."
The battle for fourth position will be decided on Sunday's only stage, as Mikko Hirvonen and Chris Atkinson are only separated by 0.8 seconds.
The pair swapped positions after all three stages on Saturday afternoon, and by the end of the day Hirvonen had the advantage by the slimmest of margins.
"I've tried as hard as I can," said the Finn. "Chris is pushing hard too, this has been really good. This is proper rallying, and tomorrow we will battle."
Atkinson was disappointed to lose the position right at the end of the day, but he is still on course for his best ever finish in Monte Carlo.
"It's been a good run," he said, "but I gave away too much at the end. I thought we held him but that's not good enough. It will be interesting tomorrow."
Petter Solberg is now safe in sixth position as Toni Gardemeister dropped back, and the 2003 champion was upbeat at the end of Saturday's stages.
"I'm quite happy with my position," he said. "It's been a tough weekend, but it has been a great team effort, and I'm happy."
Gardemeister gambled on his tyre choice to do something different to Solberg, but his choice of compound caused him to fall away from the Subaru driver.
Jan Kopecky is now in a secure eighth place after Jari-Matti Latvala hit a wall during SS14, and the Ford driver even dropped out of the top 10.
Jean-Marie Cuoq moves up to ninth as a result of Latvala's off, while Manfred Stohl is back into the top 10, but the Austrian is still struggling with brake problems.
Top 10 leaderboard after Stage 2:
Pos Driver Make Time
1. Loeb Citroen 3:08:36.2
2. Sordo Citroen + 31.1
3. Gronholm Ford + 1:23.6
4. Hirvonen Ford + 2:28.6
5. Atkinson Subaru + 2:29.4
6. Solberg Subaru + 3:06.0
7. Gardemeister Mitsubishi + 3:38.3
8. Kopecky Skoda + 4:36.4
9. Cuoq Peugeot + 5:55.2
10. Stohl Citroen + 6:35.7
