Solberg quickest through Sunday’s opener

Third placed Petter Solberg was the fastest driver through Sunday’s opening stage - a short sprint through the streets of Sebastien Loeb’s birth town, Haguenau.

And with Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala just 20 seconds behind him at the start of the day, Solberg had good reason to put his foot down.

In the event the Finn completed the 4.2km dash in the third quickest time - 0.8sec slower than Petter - but he could have been quicker had he not side-swiped a hay bale chicane near the finish. His car escaped with a broken side window but no significant damage.

Dani Sordo completed the stage with some ominous smoke coming from his C4 WRC. Reports from the road section to SS17 suggest this was due to a leaking water hose which Sordo has been able to fix.

With a rally lead of more than 40 seconds, Sebastien Loeb completed in the fourth fastest time, 1.3 seconds slower than Solberg.

Following his retirement on Saturday, Citroen Junior team driver Kimi Raikkonen elected not to restart Sunday’s competition.