By Motorsport.com staff

Sebastien Loeb, winner of the opening rally in Monte Carlo, inherited the
lead on day two of the Swedish Rally when leg one leader Markko Martin hit a
snow bank damaging the Ford Focus on stage 11.

The Citroen driver was hot on the heels of Martin yesterday and today
waiting for the opportunity to present itself, it did and Loeb held off the
charging Marcus Gronholm to take the overall lead going into the final leg
of the second round in the FIA World Rally Championship.

If the snowy conditions remain, Gronholm will be a tough contender.  The
Peugeot driver has won the event three times and likes the wintry
conditions, a trademark of the Swedish Rally.  Yesterday started with icy
snow but warmer temperatures prevail making for a mud bath.  The same was
predicted for today, an ideal for Martin and his Ford Focus.  Predictions
are not always correct as proven with the snow on the rally route in today's
second leg.

The morning stage, Sundsjon 1, showed the first sign of a clink in the armor
of the Ford Focus for rally leader, Martin - a clutch problem.  As it turned
out, his closest competitor, Loeb also had problems allowing Martin, at the
time, to keep his lead.  Gronholm had the fastest time on the 20.78km SS6.
Loeb was second and Martin managed third followed by Carlos Sainz and Janne
Tuohino.

Gronholm's attack on the leaderboard continued as the two-time WRC champion
set fastest time on SS7.  The Peugeot driver handled the 11.24km Malta 1
just slight over two seconds ahead of Citroen's Sainz.  Young Tuohino was
third fastest in a Ford Focus followed by Martin and Loeb.

Gronholm's teammate, Freddy Loix continued his ill-fated luck from
yesterday's leg one when he went off the road into a ditch and mangled a
tree.  The Peugeot continued but dropped Loix further down the overall
leaderboard and really, out of podium contention.

The top three overall going into SS8 were Martin, Loeb and Sainz with
Gronholm just seconds behind Sainz in fourth.

The 20.12km Fredirksberg marked three for three stage wins for the Peugeot
veteran driver.  Sainz had a bit of a slide on the snowy road, allowing
Gronholm to move into third overall.  The Spainard lost nearly one minute
when he put his Citroen into a snow bank and had to clean off the radiator,
dropping him to seventh overall.

Martin could still taste victory taking second for the stage and hanging on
to a slim thirty second lead over Loeb.  Mikko Hirvonen was third fastest,
the Subaru driver was just two-point seven seconds off the pace of Gronholm
and four-point one seconds faster than his teammate Solberg.

Loeb made up time to leader Martin by clinching victory on the SS9 26.39km
Lejen, Martin was second followed by Gronholm.  The three pulled away from
the other rallyists making it a three-way battle for overall.

Ford driver Francois Duval went off and lost 43 minutes. Hirvonen's
brilliant run in the previous stage may have came to naught on the ninth
stage as the young driver went off, dug his Subaru out of the snow and lost
six minutes but did finish the stage - determination!  Having a second day
with a fantastic drive and still in the hunt for a top five finish after a
remarkable first day is Tuohino.

Gronholm, the man on the move, took the SS10 11.25 Malta 2 with ease over
the Citroen team cars of Sainz and Loeb.   Martin was fourth but had lost
time on the overall lead to Loeb and Gronholm.

And then it happened on the second run of the 20.78km Sundsjon, the leader
Martin who favors gravel conditions, came too close to a snow bank breaking
a wheel and the rear suspension.  The Estonian limped the Focus to a finish
and the service area on three drivable wheels with the fourth  dragging on
the ground.

"I must have gone closer to one of the snow banks than others had because I
hit a rock that was hidden in it," explained a downtrodden Martin.

Loeb inherited the overall lead and set fastest time on the SS11.  Gronholm
who had inherited second overall finished second on the stage. Sainz was
third fastest moving him to fifth overall.

On the other hand for the Ford team, Martin's teammate Duval had a brilliant
drive after the off on the previous stage and finished fourth fastest.
Hirvonen was fifth but the real story was Tuohino's sixth for the stage and
in third overall 12.2 seconds ahead of the defending WRC champ Solberg who
had gone off the road causing suspension damage.

The 39.95km Vargasen stage 12 saw Loeb take the fastest time three-point
five seconds ahead of Solberg who was making up for lost time on the final
stages of the longest day in Sweden.  The Subaru driver had suffered another
off , causing more damage to the suspension.

Sainz was third followed by Martin and Gronholm.  The Peugeot driver
Gronholm damaged the front end of the 307WRC  when he spun at a high rate of
speed on the stage, no doubt wondering how he got away with it - the entire
front body work is gone including headlights!

Tuohino was eighth, dropping him to fourth overall as Solberg took the third
position on the leaderboard. Martin had moved to eighth overall five minutes
behind the rally leader Loeb.  And Loix retired due to an engine failure in
the Peugeot.



The difficult leg two of the Swedish Rally ended with the second Hagfors
Sprint (1.86km), the first Hagfors ended leg one yesterday.  Solberg won the
final stage 0.7 seconds ahead of Tobias Johansson in a Ford Focus.  The
Subaru star kept third overall, now 28.6 seconds ahead of  Tuohino in
fourth.

Loeb finished the final stage today in fifth and with the sixth position
finish of Gronholm, Loeb is the overall leader by 40.6 seconds.  Sainz was
third placing him now just 0,8 seconds behind Tuohino.  Martin tied for
sixth with Gronholm and will start tomorrow still in the points in eighth
place overall.

The outcome of today showcased what can be expected tomorrow on the final
leg's six stages.  The main questions will be: Can the current points leader
Loeb hang on to win or will the Swedish rally expert Gronholm overtake the
Citroen?  Will the young driver Tuohino finish fourth or will the experience
veteran of Sainz come into play and he overtakes the Focus driver?  And then
there is Martin - can he hang onto a point finishing position?  Citroen can
overtake Ford in the manufacturers' standings with top finishes by Loeb and
Sainz.  Even though this is only round two, the valuable points one can
garner can lead to the 2004 championship.


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