31.   Polls show he maintains a solid lead over his closest rival, Francisco Arias Cardenas, one of the former fellow coup leaders.

32.   And his criticism of McCain on campaign finance -- his jab that it would hurt Republicans -- was designed to peel away GOP voters from his closest rival.

33.   Armstrong looked composed throughout the race Wednesday, never letting his closest rivals Fernando Escartin and Alex Zulle out of his sight.

34.   As he was making birdie on the seventh hole, his closest rival, John Cook, made double bogey and Stewart was four shots in front.

35.   BMW and its closest rival, Volkswagen, had submitted bids last week and Vickers had been expected to decide on a buyer next month.

36.   By contrast, his closest rival in the world championship race, Italian Max Biaggi, struggled throughout the early session.

37.   Celta has ten points, a point ahead of its closest rivals Deportivo de la Coruna, Real Betis and Villarreal.

38.   Closest rival is Corneliu Vadim Tudor, an extreme nationalist known for his poems of praise for the late communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu.

39.   Despite being neighbors in Africa, the two teams rarely meet in international one day matches and Zimbabwe has never won against its closest rival.

40.   Domingos goal total is nearly double his closest rival, Leoson Lewis of Trinidad and Tobago with eight.