Loeb storms off in Wales.

Runaway championship leader, Sebastien Loeb has taken the advantage on the Wales Rally GB this [Friday] morning, by posting the quickest times through SS2 and SS3, the Frenchman now at the top of the leaderboard, 19.5 seconds up on Marcus Gronholm, who lies second.

Following overnight rain, conditions were wet and muddy on the first pass through the classic Welsh forest stage from Brechfa [SS2].

Presenting drivers with a mixture of fast straights and long cambered corners, the tree-lined test became increasingly slippery as the leading cars powered through and churned up mud for those following.

First on the road, Citroen's Loeb was fastest by 5.7 seconds, with Gronholm second and Markko Martin third. Last year's winner, Subaru's Petter Solberg was fourth fastest in his Impreza WRC2004, while his team-mate Mikko Hirvonen was eighth fastest to move up three positions overall.

After the finish, crews completed the short 5.89km road section to the start of SS3.

Contested in the same forest as the previous stage from Brechfa, conditions through Trawscoed [SS3] were once again muddy and slippery on the corners. Including less flat-out straights and more narrow sections than Brechfa, the test featured a surface change midway through as rough gravel became muddier.

Loeb was again fastest, with Gronholm second and Solberg third.

Solberg's team-mate Hirvonen was relieved to have got through the stage that had ended his rally on the last two attempts. However, it wasn't all plain sailing for the Finn when leaves and mud blocked airflow through his car's radiator causing the engine to drop a little power to keep cool. He was eighth fastest.

Despite the difficult conditions, none of the leading drivers were caught out by the tricky right hand downhill turn 2km in and, after the finish, crews moved to a 10-minute tyre change zone near Carmarthen.

Included to allow new tyres to be fitted to cars before the repeated stages, crews were also permitted the assistance of two team members to work on their cars.

"Not bad, not bad," was Solberg's verdict on the first two tests of the day. "The stages were just as I expected, very slippery and very muddy. Sebastien is doing well, he was quicker than me on these stages last year too and I just have to speed up.

"I'm trying my best, but for now that's not good enough. But, there's a long way to go yet. The car and tyres are working well, conditions are drying a little so we'll see what we can do on the next stages."

The action now resumes with a repeat of both tests, the first beginning at 1009 hours local time.