Loeb retires in France

World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb retired from the Rallye de France Alsace after a suspected engine failure.

World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb retired from the Rallye de France Alsace on Friday after a suspected engine failure. The Citroen driver pulled up 26 kilometres into the third stage, although the exact cause of the problem was not known. The Frenchman's retirement is his first in the WRC since he crashed out in Greece two years ago. Citroen Racing team manager Sven Smeets confirmed the seven-time world champion would take no further part in the weekend's action. "It's impossible to continue but we have to wait to find out exactly what the problem is," Smeets told www.wrc.com. "We could not risk running this engine here and then having the problem come back in Spain [in the next round]. "It's a very big disappointment to retire but we have one car left with Sebastien Ogier and we want to win with him." Mini driver Dani Sordo holds the lead after recording the fastest time on the last of Friday's stages. It is the first time a Mini has led a world championship rally, with the Spaniard holding a one-second lead over Norway's Petter Solberg. Meanwhile Ogier, who was leading the pack at the start of the afternoon loop, is in third place 2.8 secs behind the leader. "I'm really, really happy," Sordo said. "We have been working so hard for this and now we're in a good place. "There are still two days [to go] but today has been really good. "To be leading Citroen at home is very nice." Like his team-mate Loeb, Ogier also suffered from technical problems which saw him drop off the pace. The Citroen driver reported a loss in power which had troubled him in an earlier run. He said: "There is not the power as usual, we can be faster than that. "I lost time all the time. It's not okay." However, the French driver remains positive. "It's a strange feeling with the performance of the car. In some places I try but I do not have the speed so the team has to check everything to see what happened. "It's very close and it's still possible." Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke is in fourth place in his Mini.