/world sport
OBIHIRO, Japan -- Finn Mikko Hirvonen maintained his lead over Spaniard Dani Sordo on the second day of the Rally of Japan.
Hirvonen was a winner in the Norwegian Rally in February.
The 27-year-old Ford Focus driver, who won in Norway in February, has a time of two hours 26 minutes and 28.9 seconds after 20 stages, winning three stages in two days.
Sordo trails by 38.2 seconds after winning the 16th and 18th stages in his Citroen, followed by Henning Solberg of Norway, who is 1:51.7 behind.
Three-time defending world champion Sebastien Loeb of France, who trailed Hirvonen in second place after the first day, had a disastrous 13th stage, careering off the road to finish 63rd and dropping to sixth overall.
Loeb was in 57th place in the 14th stage and continued to struggle in his Citroen for the whole day, eventually finishing 31st overall in a time of 3:05:50.9.
Before the event Loeb, the winner of six rounds this season, trailed championship points leader Marcus Gronholm of Finland by four points. Gronholm retired on Friday with a mechanical problem.
The Rally of Japan is the 14th leg of the 16-round championship series. E-mail to a friend 
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