Leob leads in Rally of Catalunya

Newly-crowned world champion Sebastien Loeb was leading the Rally of Catalunya on the second day.

Newly-crowned world champion Sebastien Loeb was leading the Rally of Catalunya, the 15th and penultimate round of the 2005 championship, on a dramatic second day early on Saturday.

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Overnight leader Loeb was ahead of Citroen team-mate Francois Duval of Belgium and Finland's Marcus Gronholm in a Peugeot following two of the day's six special stages.

Drama came however in the cancelling of the day's first special and the crashing out of the event of Italy's Gigi Galli at the end of the second one.

Overnight rain and hords of spectators on a bend made the first special dangerous and it was cancelled by organisers. Then Galli's Mitsubishi crashed into a wall having just crossed the finishing line with the best time in the day's second special.