Sordo holds off Loeb after day one

Sordo had led from the first stage, while Loeb was uncomfortable with his set-up early on and ran back in fifth place initially.

But the world champion improved his pace in the afternoon stages, going fastest in SS5 and SS6 to move up to second position and close right in on his teammate.

"It's better this afternoon," Loeb said. "This morning I was in a bit of trouble, but now the feeling is much better. I tried to push hard, but it was bumpy so I didn't want to make a mistake now.

"I'm not completely satisfied, but the car is going well and the rally is still long."

Although Subaru's Petter Solberg has now dropped out of what began as a five-car lead pack, the two Fords are still close behind the Citroens.

Jari-Matti Latvala holds third, just seven seconds adrift of Sordo, despite concerns about tyre wear.

"It was going well until the last stage, but it seems like my rear tyres are completely finished now," he said. "The other tyres are not having the same problem, so it may be something with my driving that we have to work out."

His teammate Mikko Hirvonen is 13 seconds off the lead pace in fourth place, and was fastest in the day's final stage.

"For the last two stages I was really, really pushing, and I'm a little bit further away than I wanted," Hirvonen said.

"But I think we're faster now and everything is still open. We'll just try to keep it all together. I almost lost it today, and I need to finish and get the points."

Solberg was still in contention for the podium when he hit a rock in SS5 and lost six minutes with the subsequent suspension problems. He ultimately retired on the following road section.

His Subaru teammate Chris Atkinson remains in fifth position.

Stobart driver Gigi Galli has dropped out of sixth place after spinning into a bank and damaging the rear of his Ford Focus. The Italian's retirement has elevated young Estonian Citroen driver Urmo Aava into the top six, ahead of Stobart duo Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg - the latter recovering well after early brake problems.

Conrad Rautenbach completed the day in ninth place, but had difficulty restarting his Citroen after the final stage and looks set to struggle to get back to service.

Should Rautenbach have to retire from the leg, Munchi's Ford driver Federico Villagra and works Ford number three Khalid Al-Qassimi will be elevated to ninth and 10th.

Leading positions after day one:

Pos  Driver      Car      Time
 1.  Sordo       Citroen  1h16:53.7
 2.  Loeb        Citroen   +    1.1
 3.  Latvala     Ford      +    8.5
 4.  Hirvonen    Ford      +   13.4
 5.  Atkinson    Subaru    + 1:08.0
 6.  Aava        Citroen   + 1:59.3
 7.  Wilson      Ford      + 2:52.7
 8.  H Solberg   Ford      + 3:22.3
 9.  Rautenbach  Citroen   + 3:47.9
10.  Villagra    Ford      + 3:59.2