Loeb slips past Gronholm in New Zealand

Triple world champion Sebastien Loeb overtook Marcus Gronholm on yesterday's final stage to grab the outright lead after the second day of the New Zealand Rally.

The Frenchman won the final stage in his Citroen by 5.4 seconds to snatch the lead for the first time and head into the last day with a 1.7 second advantage over Gronholm.

Gronholm, who leads Loeb by eight points in this year's championship with four rounds to go after New Zealand, started the day 13 seconds in front and stretched that lead to 14.9 seconds after winning the seventh stage.

But he lost more than 11 seconds to Loeb on the eighth stage through Franklin after choosing the wrong tyres, before surrendering the lead on the final stage.

"The gap is not big. It will be a hard Sunday, not a Sunday drive like usual," Loeb said. "I pushed really hard today and couldn't do better."