Loeb takes lead in Argentina

Sebastien Loeb took control on day one of the Rally Argentina, taking a one-and-a-half minute lead over Chris Atkinson after championship leader Mikko Hirvonen crashed.

Loeb's Citroen was 50.8 seconds behind Hirvonen's Ford Focus when he was handed the lead during the fifth stage as the Finn suffered suspension damage after sliding off the road and hitting a rock.

The Frenchman claimed the stage to take a 54.7-second lead over Atkinson and, despite not winning any of the remaining four stages on the day, was able to build his advantage over the Australian's Subaru.

Atkinson matched Loeb's pace during the sixth and seventh stages but two spins on the day's penultimate run cost him 40 seconds.

However, he was able to hold on to second place by 8.3 seconds from Subaru team-mate Petter Solberg after winning the day's final stage.

Solberg struggled with damper problems during the second half of the day but maintained third place, 8.8 seconds ahead of Stobart Ford's Gigi Galli.

Spain's Dani Sordo was on course to catch Solberg but a steering problem on his Citroen saw him finish the day in fifth place.

Britain's Matthew Wilson was in seventh place in his Stobart Ford, six minutes and 18 seconds behind Loeb.

Hirvonen had set a ferocious pace early in the day, winning three of the opening four stages on the damp and slippery track to take a big lead over Loeb.

The difficult conditions got the better of the Finn on the fifth stage and when he rejoins the action he will find himself nearly 24 minutes behind the Frenchman.

Fellow Finn Jari-Matti Latvala, the winner of last month's Swedish Rally, also ran into problems when he went off the track during the second stage.

He managed to get his Ford Focus back on the road with the help of spectators but the mishap saw him finish the day in eighth place, nearly nine-and-a-half minutes off the pace.