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Loeb pulls out of Swedish Rally after crash

Swedish rally fans relax in front of a log fire during the Swedish Rally on Friday. Mild weather has brought spectators out to the forest roads around Karlstad. PHOTO: AFP

World champion Sebastien Loeb withdrew from the Swedish Rally on Friday after a crash on the fourth stage, enabling Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland to take a nearly one-minute lead.

With Loeb out of the race, Latvala won six of seven special stages to take a 56.3-second lead ahead of fellow Ford Focus driver Henning Solberg of Norway.

Latvala, who finished out of the points in the season opener in Monte Carlo last month, had a total time of 1 hour, 3 minutes and 33.3 seconds after two days of racing in western Sweden.

"I did some good times in the morning, but it was a surprise for me that I could do that in the afternoon as well," Latvala said. "I felt good all day and I hope I'll feel the same way tomorrow."

Solberg capitalized on a 10-second penalty given to Mikko Hirvonen of Finland for arriving late at the final checkpoint.

"I have no idea why I got the penalty," said Hirvonen, another Ford Focus driver who was runner-up in Monte Carlo.

With the penalty, Hirvonen dropped to third overall, 58.2 seconds behind the leader.

Finnish driver Jari-Matti Latvala's Ford Focus takes off during the fifth stage of the Swedish Rally near Karlstad, Sweden, on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Loeb, who won the season opener, had 3km left on the fourth stage when he went off the icy road and got stuck in a snow drift.

The Frenchman eventually got his Citroen back on the road, but he lost more than four minutes. After a service stop at Sunne in west Sweden, Loeb gave up.

"One of my wheels got stuck in the snow drift and we flipped over," Loeb said.

Hirvonen was surprised.

"I lost my rhythm ... you know, Loeb almost always stays on the road," he said.

Four years ago, Loeb became the first non-Nordic driver to win the rally in its 57-year history. The four-time world champion was trying to win a record 100th world rally event.

Gianluigi Galli of Italy was 1:02.0 behind in fourth place in another Ford Focus.

The rally ends today.
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