Reigning World Champion, Sébastien Loeb, has claimed the lead of Rally Argentina, the fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Frenchman snatched the lead from Mikko Hirvonen after he was forced out of the day’s competition, following a sensational start to the event. Second and third positions are held by Chris Atkinson and Petter Solberg.

The opening day provided treacherous competition. Twenty-four hours of rain left gravel stages awash with mud and water, and the slippery conditions resulted in many of the crews struggling for grip. Ford’s Hirvonen, however, set a blistering pace in the opening stage, pulling out a massive 48.1 second advantage in just 18.70 kilometres. Despite all the crews being blinded by rain, fog and low cloud, Hirvonen’s favourable first place on the road was the ideal position to capitalise. He won three of the morning’s four stages to arrive back at the mid-day service with a 50.8 second lead. However, in the following stage, the Finn hit a rock, damaged the suspension and was forced on to the sidelines. Team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala - winner of the Swedish Rally - lost more than nine minutes in the second stage, having hit a bank on a tightening corner. The car bounced across the road and rolled on to its side. Despite only cosmetic damage, he dropped to 30th position but still won three of the day’s nine stages and has climbed to eighth.

Loeb has had a trouble-free day and is comfortably in the lead with 90 seconds in hand to Chris Atkinson, who lost time with a spin late this afternoon. Team-mate Petter Solberg had damper problems this afternoon, but the Norwegian managed to maintain third and is just a handful of seconds adrift. Behind them, Dani Sordo and Gigi Galli have been battling for fourth, Galli finally overhauling Sordo in the penultimate stage of the day. Federico Villagra is upholding national honours in sixth position and Britain’s Matthew Wilson has climbed to seventh. Suzuki driver Per-Gunnar Andersson retired with an engine sensor problem and his team-mate Toni Gardemeister was also forced out with unconfirmed problems. The only other leading retirement of the day was Henning Solberg, who broke the car’s suspension this afternoon.

Rally Argentina - Results after Day 1

1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 54 min 28.0sec
2. Chris Atkinson/Stéphane Prévot Subaru Impreza WRC 1 hr 55 min 58.6sec
3. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC 1 hr 56 min 06.9sec
4. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 56 min 15.7sec
5. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 56 min 34.9sec
6. Federico Villagra/Jorge P Companc Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 59 min 16.3sec
7. Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin Ford Focus RS WRC 2 hr 00 min 46.3sec
8. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 2 hr 03 min 55.5sec

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