Latvala 30 seconds behind Sébastien Loeb

Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) had a good lead (16 seconds) over Sébastien Loeb before competing in the last special of the first stage of the Rally of Catalonia. But as darkness set in, the Flying Finn hit a stone and suffered a puncture. The Ford driver fell to second position, 30 seconds behind the Alsatian.

The situation is perfect for Sébastien Loeb (Citroën), who feared losing a lot of time by opening the road on the leading course. The seven-time world champion now has a good lead before attacking the Spanish asphalt. “This day was difficult”, admits the Citroên driver all the same. “We were lucky with the dust in the first stage but the surface remained slippery and I'm happy to finish. »

Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) was transparent in this first stage. But the co-leader of the Championship finished the first stage in 3rd position, 23 seconds behind his teammate after taking advantage of the competition's setbacks. “I didn?t drive well today”, recognizes the Flying Finn. “I had no visibility at certain times but we are at least finished with this course. »

Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) ends the day in 4th place, more than 50 seconds behind the second Fiesta RS WRC. The Frenchman was battling with Jari-Matti Latvala for the lead before also suffering a puncture (in SS5). He finally regained the advantage over Dani Sordo (Mini) in the night special which completed the stage. “It?s difficult to stay motivated after what happened to me”, admits the Citroën driver, who may have lost his hopes of victory and the title this afternoon.

Dani Sordo falls to 5th position, more than 17 seconds behind Sébastien Ogier, after experiencing radio problems with his co-driver in SS5 (35,94km), the longest of the stage, and visibility problems on the last route of the day. His teammate Kris Meeke is 6th place, still 50 seconds behind the first Mini.

The crews will leave tomorrow to cover 143,54km timed spread over six special stages. The asphalt will follow the dirt courses, to the great joy of Sébastien Loeb, who will not be penalized by his position as opener either.