Loeb leads teammate Sordo after impressive first day

Sebastian Loeb, winner of the last seven Rally Germany events, was on course to extend his streak after the opening day in Trier yesterday. Loeb won the first three stages and was 8.2secs ahead of Dani Sordo, his Citroen teammate, following the opening loop and seemingly en route to victory in Germany for an eighth successive time. Petter Solberg won the opening afternoon stage, but Loeb won the day's fifth stage and Sordo rounded off a successful day for Citroen in the ninth round of the World Rally Championship with victory in the sixth test.

Loeb, the six-time world champion, was 9.5secs ahead of Sordo at the end of the opening day, with BP Ford Abu Dhabi's Jari-Matti Latvala, the Rally Finland winner, 1min 04.7secs adrift in third and Sebastien Ogier (Citroen) a further six seconds behind in fourth. Loeb is 48 points clear in the title race ahead of Ogier, and appears poised to extend his lead. "It is going very well - a good start with three best times in the first three stages. The feeling with the car was good," said Loeb.

Following the fifth test, which Loeb won by more than 1.7secs from Sordo, he said: "I pushed really hard and it paid off." BP Ford Abu Dhabi's Mikko Hirvonen was fifth after the opening day, 1:14.5 behind Loeb. Latvala, 25, said: "My target for this rally was to finish in the top five. I'm in third, so I'm very happy with that. It's a strange feeling for me to be in a podium position in an asphalt rally. The car has improved since the last asphalt round in Bulgaria ... it feels more stable."

He added: "There's still work to do with both car and driver but although it's not easy for me on asphalt, I'm enjoying it." Hirvonen, 30, said: "I didn't have the consistency I would like and I need to improve that before the long stage in the military area. I need to be ready for that. Thankfully the forecast suggests it will be dry, because I wasn't looking forward to that in the wet." * Agencies