Friday midday wrap: Loeb opens early advantage

Sebastien Loeb’s bid to make it nine wins on ADAC Rallye Deutschland is on course after he completed the opening loop of three stages with a lead of 4.4s over Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier.

Ogier, driving a DS3 WRC, moved into top spot with the fastest time on stage two but had no answer to Loeb on stage three.

Both Citroen drivers opted to run with a greater number of soft compound tyres for the morning loop. While this restricted their pace on stage one, which was held in dry conditions, the choice proved ideal for stage two, which took place in increasingly wet conditions.

“It was a risk with the tyre choice and I expected to lose some time in the stages where it was not raining,” said Loeb, the world championship leader. “Finally I think we have done a good choice but we have a big race with Sebastien Ogier.”

Factory Ford Fiesta driver Jari-Matti Latvala led after stage one but his hard compound Michelin tyres offered insufficient grip for the rain-hit second stage. He suffered further delay when he picked up a right-rear puncture on stage three to the extent he’s more than two minutes adrift of first place.

Team-mate Mikko Hirvonen is third overall, one place ahead of the impressive Dani Sordo, who is a strong fourth in the first of six MINI John Cooper Works WRCs competing in Germany. Briton Kris Meeke is fifth in the second factory MINI.

Kimi Raikkonen admitted his lack of knowledge of driving his ICE 1 Racing DS3 WRC in damp conditions held him back on stage two. He heads FERM Power Tools World Rally Team driver Dennis Kuipers in the overall standings. Kuipers, meanwhile, reported brake problems on stage three.

Ken Block lost time with a puncture on stage one before knocking the alignment out on his Monster World Rally Team Fiesta when he ran wide and nudged a bank on stage two.

Armindo Araujo went off on stage one, spun twice on stage two but then set a top 10 time on stage three in his Motorsport Italia MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

Mads Ostberg’s hopes of a top result on what could be his final appearance in the WRC this season suffered a blow when the Norwegian damaged the rear suspension of his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta when he went wide on stage three.

Team-mate Matthew Wilson spun on stage two and reported being too cautious thereafter. Brake problems slowed Henning Solberg, in another M-Sport Stobart Fiesta, on stage one, while German hero Aaron Burkart reported hitting fence polls in his M-Sport Stobart entry on the first stage.

Daniel Oliveira damaged the front of his Brazil World Rally Team MINI when he went off on stage one.

Martin Prokop led the Super 2000 World Rally Championship division after the first stage one only to crash out on the very next stage in his Fiesta. His misfortune has promoted title leader Juho Hanninen to the top of the leaderboard in his Red Bull Skoda Fabia.

Ott Tanak made the most of his soft compound tyres to set the sixth fastest overall time on stage two but time lost with an overshoot on stage one means he is more than 30 seconds behind Hanninen.

Craig Breen led Alastair Fisher in the FIA WRC Academy Cup by 1.2s after the opening stage.

Standings after SS3: