Injured double world champion Sebastien Loeb will not compete in this month's Australian Rally, his Kronos Racing Citroen team said. The Frenchman, who broke his right arm when he fell off his mountain bike in training last month, leads Ford's Marcus Gronholm by 25 points with three rounds of the championship remaining.

Loeb was replaced by Colin McRae in Turkey last weekend but the Scot retired on the final stage. Kronos have decided not to continue with McRae, who did well with Skoda in Australia last year, and instead entrusted Loeb's car to 26-year-old Xevi Pons for Australia.

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