Peugeot driver Timmy Hansen leads World RX opening day in Barcelona

At the Barcelona circuit where Hansen retired from the lead of the semi-final stages 12 months ago, the Swede set the fastest time in both Q1 and Q2 to lead the overall order at the close of play on Saturday.

Hansen leapfrogged Guerlain Chicherit in his Q1 race having backed out of the first corner scrum and cut to the inside of the left-hander to take track position from Niclas Gronholm, then led the last race of the day in Q2 from lights to flag in commanding fashion.

With a succession of fastest laps of the event so-far, Hansen led younger brother and team-mate Kevin Hansen to the line, the round one winner and points' leader holding second overnight.

Kevin Hansen was helped by a re-started race in Q1, after he initially lost out to Cyril Raymond at the start in the first running of the encounter and dropped time, but led the re-run from start to finish.

He then took an early joker in Q2 and climbed back up the order.

Fourth and fifth at the close of the first day are held by Audi S1 drivers Andreas Bakkerud and Krisztian Szabo after solid performances from both drivers, while Raymond delivered an impressive run in the GCK Academy Renault Clio to be sixth after the first two qualifying sessions.

Triple European Rallycross champion Timur Timeryzanov rerurned to the series and took third in both sessions, thanks to a race victory in Q1 and following Timmy Hansen throughout the Q2 race, only to be passed by Kevin Hansen after his lap four joker

However, Timeryzanov's GRX team-mate, Niclas Gronholm, who initially won round one of the series on track before being handed a post-race penalty that dropped him behind Kevin Hansen, got held up in traffic in Q1 in Spain.

He then made a slow start in Q2 and was 11th fastest.

The Finn is ninth at the end of day one, a place ahead of double DTM champion Timo Scheider.

British driver and former Olympic champion Chris Hoy finished both of first qualifying races, despite a jump start in Q1 and a spin at the end of Q2, and finished his first day of World RX inside the points, in 15th.