Tentative thumbs up for Rallye Deutschland

Citroen's Philippe Bugalski has a slender three-second advantage after six of the event's 18 stages over Marcus Gronholm in the Peugeot 206. And both men, whose respective manufacturers are owned by French company PSA, have made positive noises about the German event.

"This is an excellent rally", said Bugalski, who is scheduled to compete in four WRC events this year, as his team prepares for a full assault on the championship in 2002.

But the Frenchman is testing a new paddle-shift gear change on his Xsara WRC and claims it's a little difficult to learn in the heat of competition. "I am driving with a semi-automatic gearbox for the first time," he said. "This requires some getting used to."

Reigning champion Marcus Gronholm also gave his approval. The Finn is using the rally to gain valuable hard surface experience ahead of the asphalt events in San Remo and Corsica in October later this year, and he said the event, which is held in Germany's wine-making region of Mosel, has so far exceeded expectations.

"It's quite a tough event, but it's been a good day today," said the Finn. "It's good and fast, but we'll have to wait and see to see if this is up to a World Championship event. So far it has been better than I expected."

Armin Kremer, the German champion who took the fight to the WRC big guns in the first of the leg's stages, currently lies in third overall on his home event. Kremer's Toyota Corolla is still very much in touch with the leaders, eight seconds off the pace on the event he won in 1999.

Compatriot Armin Schwarz is in fourth place at the end of leg one, 32 seconds back in his Skoda Octavia - not a bad result after driving without a windscreen for two of the day's five stages.

Neil Wearden, piloting a Grifone-run Peugeot 206, is in seventh place overall and suffered no major dramas on the first day of the rally. The Lancastrian is no stranger to asphalt events - he won the Ulster Rally in 1999, but he's taking this event a stage at a time.

"I'm just taking it steady," he said. "I'm not even looking at the times. The important thing is to finish the rally."

However, Francois Delecour is not having such a great start to his Rallye Deutschland. The Frenchman has suffered two punctures on his Ford Focus WRC and spun twice. Because of the punctures, Delecour's confidence has been affected, and lies in ninth place overall, 2m34.5s off the pace.

"It's been a difficult day as far as the tyres are concerned," he said. "I lost my confidence a little bit. On the second stage, I probably was too cautious."

But, the Ford driver, while reserving judgement on the event until Sunday evening, is impressed with the running of the rally so far.

"I am very keen (on Rallye Deutschland)," he said. "The organisation, especially on the recce, has been very good."

P Bugalski Citroen Xsara 1h1m41.2s
M Gronholm Peugeot 206 +3.1s
A Kremer Toyota Corolla +8.8s
A Schwarz Skoda Octavia +32.1s
A Mortl Subaru Impreza +1m10.0s
R Baumschlager Ford Focus RS +1m37.0s
N Wearden Peugeot 206 +1m52.2a
M Stohl Toyota Corolla +2m19.9s
F Delecour Ford Focus RS +2m34.5s
N Schelle Ford Escort +2m39.7s