Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville has taken first blood on the opening evening Super Special Stage at Rally Italia Sardinia.

The two-kilometre Ittiri Arena Show stage was held at a former motocross track just outside the village of the same name. The head-to-head spectator stage was a two-lap dash around a track which also included a jump and a water splash.

The Belgian outpaced Sebastien Ogier in the headline heat to grab a 0.2sec lead.

“I enjoyed that quite a lot,” said Neuville.

“The car was working well but the stage was abrasive and the tyres suffered a bit, but I don’t care! A good crowd and a great atmosphere.”

Ott Tanak was second after beating Jari-Matti Latvala, despite having his windscreen wipers jam at the water splash.

Dani Sordo reported a similar problem in his i20 en route to third, after edging Elfyn Evans by a tenth of a second in their heat. The Welshman was fourth with Kiwi Hayden Paddon and Ogier tying for fifth.

Several drivers clipped straw bales lining the course. The worst affected was Juho Hanninen who picked up minor damage to his Toyota Yaris’ left rear guard.

After an overnight halt in the east coast town of Olbia, the rally continues early on Friday with the first of two loops of four gravel stages. After lunchtime service in Alghero, the quartet is repeated, making a total of 125.46km of competition.

POSITIONS: Rally Italia Sardegna – After SS1