Leg 1 wrap-up: Panizzi in control

Only Richard Burns has been able to hold a candle to the wild-eyed Frenchman's performance on the abrasive stages around Tarragona to the west of Barcelona, but even the world champion is starting to slip back into the clutches of Philippe Bugalski who has finally got the Citroen Xsara moving.

Perhaps surprisingly, Sebastien Loeb has not been able to reproduce the form that saw him come within a stewards' penalty of Monte Carlo victory but the young Citroen starlet is splitting Bugalski and Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm tonight.

Brake problems that required a change of pedal box have hampered Petter Solberg today, but the Norwegian is 'best of the rest' behind the French cars and currently holding the final points placing after the opening leg. Team mate Tommi Makinen looked secure in ninth place before he slithered into a ditch on today's final stage and lost two minutes getting back to the road.

Ford's injury-struck team has battled on gamely today with consistency the keyword for Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Markko Martin. McRae has seemingly been untroubled by his injured finger and has settled quickly into changing gear with his left hand for the first time in many years. Equally impressive is the way that Sainz and stand-in co-driver Marc Marti have been able to work together.

"My pace notes are very complicated, as anyone who has seen in-car footage of me on rallies will know," said Sainz. "However, Marc has adapted well and has got better with every stage."

Further down the order, the Skoda and Hyundai teams are suffering from lack of cutting-edge asphalt development while the most frustrated team of all is Mitsubishi who simply can't seem to get the Lancer WRC up to speed on asphalt at the moment. Alister McRae's day included a heart-stopping moment when a rear tyre came off at over 100mph and he did well to keep the car on the road.

Alongside the WRC competition on this event is the second round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship. Experienced driver Andrea Dallavilla has dominated proceedings to lead overnight from fellow Citroen Saxo driver Daniel Sola.

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