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Summary Sebastien Loeb leads the Rally of New Zealand by four seconds.
Eight-time world champion Sebastien Loeb leads the Rally of New Zealand by four seconds from Citroen teammate Mikko Hirvonen, snatching the advantage on the final stage of Fridays first day.Hirvonen led from the second to the seventh of eight stages contested on the opening day of the 15-stage rally, but never by more than 7.6 seconds from the hard-charging Frenchman.Loeb won the third, fourth, fifth and seventh stages to trail Hirvonen by only 4.6 seconds going into the final stage of the day. He then won that 32.13-kilometer stage to claim the overall lead and to set up a showdown with Hirvonen on Saturdays final day.
