The French driver Sebastien Loeb's bid to wrap up his seventh world rally title got off to a bright start on Friday when the Citroen driver established an early overnight lead in the Rally of France.
Loeb posted the quickest times in the opening four stages of this 11th leg of the 13-rally season and also bagged the sixth special stage for good measure to open up a 22.7 second lead over Spaniard Dani Sordo and a 25.6 second advantage over Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, both likewise of Citroen.
Loeb leads Ogier by 43 points in the race for the 2010 drivers' crown, with Jari Matti Latvala 26 points further adrift.
