United Kingdom, Nov 09: Sebastien Loeb the Citroen man, who said he was slowed by a poor tyre choice, is a point clear of Solberg in the standings with no other driver in contention after the retirement on Friday of Citroen's Spanish hope Carlos Sainz. "We are telling him to just stay on the road as the constructors' title is so important for Citroen," said team boss Guy Frequelin on Friday night.
Apart from Loeb, Citroen have Britain's former champion Colin McRae fighting hard in fourth place. Peugeot, champions for the last three years and part of the same PSA automotive group, are Citroen's sole rivals five points behind. They had Finland's Harri Rovanpera in fifth place and Belgian Freddy Loix in seventh after 2002 champion Marcus Gronholm of Finland retired on Friday but were gloomy about their chances.


"I think the championship has gone unless something unexpected happens," said Peugeot boss Corrado Provera.

Bureau Report