KEY POINTS:
Triple world champion Sebastien Loeb put himself on course for a hat-trick of wins at the Rally of Catalunya when he ended the first day at the top of the leaderboard ahead of Citroen team mate Dani Sordo.
Loeb demonstrated his skill on the asphalt with an impressive drive to win the rain-affected sixth stage and top the overall standings 11.3 seconds ahead of Sordo and 50.6 seconds clear of championship leader Marcus Gronholm who is in third.
The Frenchman chose the right wet-weather set-up on the final stage of the day, while Gronholm, who has a 10-point advantage over Loeb in the championship with five races to go, got it wrong and lost valuable time to end up in sixth place.
Mikko Hirvonen finished the day in fourth spot, 2.6 seconds down on Ford team mate Gronholm but comfortably ahead of Citroen driver Francois Duval and former world champion Petter Solberg in his Subaru.
Gronholm, who will be retiring at the end of the season, started the day well with a victory in the opening stage, but the Citroens then took control.
Loeb won stage two, Duval took stage three and Sordo briefly took the overall lead after winning the fourth.
Hirvonen got in on the act to take the fifth in the Ford Focus and although he had trouble with his set up he managed to clock the third fastest time in the sixth stage.
The race continues with another eight stages on Saturday and four on Sunday.
- REUTERS
