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Loeb maintains Argentina lead

Cordoba - Multiple world champion Sebastien Loeb picked up one of Saturday's opening three special stages to maintain his lead in the Rally of Argentina.

The Citroen DS driver clocked the fastest time in stage seven with his closest rival and team-mate Mikko Hirvonen annexing stages eight and nine to lie 2.1 seconds behind the Frenchman.

Loeb had held a minuscule 0.1 second advantage over Hirvonen after Friday's opening six stages in this fifth leg of the 2012 world rally championship.

In third in the overall standings came Spaniard Dani Sordo, at 1:30.7. Sordo has replaced the injured Jari-Matti Latvala for Ford.

Results from the Rally of Argentina, after six of Saturday's seven stages:

1. Sebastien Loeb (FRA/Citroen DS3) 3 h 52:45.7, 2. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN/Citren DS3) at 7.8, 3. Dani Sordo (ESP/Ford Fiesta RS) 1:48.3, 4. Mads Ostberg (NOR/Ford Fiesta RS) 2:55.5, 5. Martin Prokop (CZE/Ford Fiesta RS) 9:16.0, 6. Sbastien Ogier (FRA/Skoda Fabia S2000) 10:20.1, 7. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR/Skoda Fabia S2000) 10:25.9, 8. Thierry Neuville (BEL/Citren DS3) 11:53.7, 9. Armindo Araujo (POR/Mini John Cooper Works) 14:09.3, 10. Petter Solberg (NOR/Ford Fiesta RS) 14:09.9

11. Evgeny Novikov (RUS/Ford Fiesta RS) 21:48.1, 12. Nasser Al Attiyah (QAT/Citren DS3) 22:33.6

Stage winners: Solberg 5 (SS1, SS3, SS10, SS11, SS12), Loeb 4 (SS2, SS4, SS5, SS7), Hirvonen 3 (SS6, SS8, SS9)

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