By CEREN KUMOVA
Associated Press Writer
ANKARA, Turkey − Sebastien Loeb of France took the lead on day two of the Turkish Rally by winning three of Saturday's eight stages.
Loeb rose from fifth place to finish the day in his Citroen 16.2 seconds ahead of Norway's Petter Solberg. Mikko Hirvonen of Finland was a further 1.1 seconds back in third.
Loeb hit the front in the sixth stage when the Citroen of first-day leader Sebastien Ogier of France blew a tire. Loeb won the Jordan Rally earlier this month.
Dani Sordo of Spain, Ogier and former Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen were next Saturday.
Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland hit a bank and crashed his Ford Focus into a ditch during the first level, Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency said.
"We could not get out of the car because the roof and the door were smashed in, but the spectators helped us get the car back on track,'' Anatolia quoted Latvala as saying.
The accident cost the two-time World Rally Championships winner nine minutes to drop to 12th position from sixth.
The Rally of Turkey, the fourth event of the FIA World Rally Championship, ends Sunday.
Turkey returned to the WRC calendar after a year's absence but the event was moved to Istanbul after having previously been staged on the mountainous tracks near the country's Mediterranean coast.
The fifth round will be held in New Zealand next month.
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