Hirvonen extends Acropolis R$ally lead

Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen of Finland extended his lead Saturday on the second day of the Acropolis Rally after several of his rivals faltered in the rough terrain.

The most notable casualty was Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, the overall World Rally Championship standings leader, who crashed in the first stage of the day. Loeb was in third place overnight, 21.1 seconds behind Hirvonen.

Other contenders to have encountered setbacks are Dani Sordo of Citroen, Henning Solberg of Ford and Mads Ostberg of Subaru, all with broken suspensions, but who continue after dropping several places in the standings.

"It was my fault. It happened after I went around a high-speed right-hand corner, I was bit too sideways then hit a big stone with the left-hand front wheel and that sent the car into the air. The car rolled over five or six times," Loeb told reporters afterward.

"The car is destroyed. There's no chance to return tomorrow - the race is over. We are OK, that's the main thing," he added.

Hirvonen did not win any of the day's six stages, but was steady and avoided trouble.

"It is a perfect day. We made no mistakes, faced no problems and we have a big difference, but you never know."

If he hangs on to win the rally, Hirvonen will close to within seven points of Loeb, who won the first five races on the world circuit this year before finishing fourth in the Rally of Sardinia.

Sebastien Ogier of France in a Citroen trails Hirvonen in second place, 1 minute 40.1 seconds off the pace. Finn Jari-Matti Latvala recovered from a disastrous first day to win two stages and climb from 11th to 3rd place, 2 minutes 44.2 seconds behind Hirvonen. Evgeny Novikov of Russia, driving a Citroen, is in fourth place after winning three stages.

The Acropolis Rally ends Sunday.

AP