Sport - Racing : Motor   

Solberg keeps lead

By Stan Rayan

OBIHIRO (JAPAN), SEPT. 4. The horrifying crash in Germany two weeks ago is now a distant memory. Norway's World champion Petter Solberg is driving like a dream in the Japan Rally here on Saturday. Such was the Subaru star's domination in the World Championship event today that the current season leader, Citroen's Sebastian Loeb seems to have already thrown in the towel.

"I can't beat Solberg in this rally," said the Frenchman Loeb midway through the second leg. Loeb was more than a minute behind Solberg after the second leg, a huge lead in rallying terms.

Meanwhile in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship which began on the same course today, Team MRF's Armin Kremer, the season leader, had a series of problems. After a thrilling neck-and-neck race with the new Australian sensation Chris Atkinson (co-driven by his brother Benjamin), Team MRF's Japanese driver Taguchi Katsuhiko (co-driver Mark Stacey) grabbed the second spot after the first leg. Chris, driving a 1600cc modified car, came up with a stunner in the fourth stage this morning when he turned in a faster time than many 2000cc vehicles. But Karamjit ran away with the first leg honours at the end of the day.

The results: WRC leg two: 1. Petter Solberg/Philip Mills (Subaru, 2 hrs, 38 mins, 31.6 secs), 2. Sebastian Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroen, 2:39:40.8), 3. Markko Martin/Michael Park (Ford, 2:40:11.9), 4. Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti (Citroen, 2:40:37.8), 5. Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainin (Puegeot, 2:40:49.4).

APRC (leg one): 1. Karamjit Singh/Allen Oh (Proton Pert Malaysia, 1 hr, 14 mins, 51.7 secs), 2. Taguchi Katsuhiko/Mark Stacey (MRF Tyres, 1:15:21.5), 3. Christopher Atkinson/Benjamin Atkinson (Suzuki, 1:15:24.7), 4. Armin Kremer/Timo Gottschalk (Mitsubishi, 1:16:38.6), 5. Geof Argyle/Steve Smith (Mitsubishi, 1:17:20.3).

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