AJACCIO, Corsica, 16 October 2004 — Ford’s Markko Martin led the Rally of France after two stages yesterday as Citroen’s championship leader Sebastien Loeb played safe with the title beckoning.
The Estonian carved out an eight-second lead over Belgian teammate Francois Duval, fastest in the twisty opening Ampaza1 stage, and was a hefty 37.5 seconds clear of Loeb after the second Aullene stage.
Loeb was third, enough to clinch the championship if he is still in that position tomorrow night, after heavy overnight rain gave way to bright sunshine in the Corsican mountains. The 30-year-old is 26 points clear of his only rival, Norwegian world champion Petter Solberg, who was running in sixth. Spanish veteran and two-times world champion Carlos Sainz, was in fourth place.
