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OLBIA, Italy : French world champion Sebastien Loeb took advantage of his rivals' suspension problems to take the lead on the first day of racing at the Rally of Sardinia here on Friday.
The Citroen C4 driver finished the day 22sec clear of Finland's former world champion Marcus Gronholm, who like his compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala, suffered from suspension problems.
Until then, Gronholm had been in charge, leading Loeb by 15sec after the fourth stage.
But he lost 12sec on the next stage and a further 25 on the final stage of the day as his problem hampered him.
"It's beautiful weather, we're in the lead but nothing has been won," insisted Loeb.
Rising young star Latvala, 21, was brilliant in the first three stages and led at the midday interval.
Loeb had started poorly, posting only the fifth fastest time on the opening stage, but he recovered in the second stage.
Latvala led Gronholm by 1.5sec at midday with Norwegian Petter Solberg 5sec back.
But he wrecked his suspension in the fifth stage after hitting a rock which put him out of the rally. The same happened to Australian Chris Atkinson in his Subaru Impreza.
- AFP /ls
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