STRASBOURG, France: Sebastien Loeb of France extended his overall lead over his Citroen teammate Dani Sordo to 42.8 seconds on the second day of the Rally of France Saturday and looks set for a seventh consecutive world championship title. Loeb won two special stages while his closest rival in the drivers' standings, countryman Sebastien Ogier, retired with suspension problems. On treacherous and muddy roads, Loeb outclassed his rivals in the first special stage of the day then drove cautiously in the afternoon. Under the world championship rules, Ogier will be allowed to start Sunday's last stage but is lagging 11 minutes, 14.1 seconds behind Loeb in sixth place. With two rallies remaining this season after the Rally of France, Loeb leads the standings over Ogier by 43 points. A third-place finish will be enough for Loeb to claim the title if Ogier can't do better than sixth overall. Four more special stages are scheduled Sunday. Petter Solberg of Norway moved into third overall, 1:14.2 back, while Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland climbed to fourth in his Ford, 1:34.2 behind Loeb.
