Thierry Neuville stopped the clocks with the best time in Stage 1 of Rally Argentina in Villa Carlos Paz.

Neuville set a time of 1:54.4s on the 1.90km Super Special, putting the Hyundai driver 0.3s clear of Toyota Gazoo’s Ott Tanak.

Sebastien Ogier was last car out by virtue of being championship leader and set a time good enough for third-fastest in the #1 M-Sport Ford.

Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) had held top spot prior to that trio’s efforts despite a messy run through the stage’s two roundabouts and ended up fourth.

Kris Meeke (Citroen) rounds out the top five, ahead of Esapekka Lappi (Toyota Gazoo), Teemu Suninen (M-Sport Ford), Dani Sordo (Hyundai), Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota), and Elfyn Evans (M-Sport Ford).

Craig Breen was actually 10th-fastest through SS1 but was hit with a 10-second penalty for a late check-out from parc ferme which dropped the Citroen driver to 24th overall.

Fellow Citroen WRC runner Khalid Al Qassimi sits 15th.

Day 2 starts tonight at 2113 AEDT with two loops of the Las Bajadas/Villa Del Dique (16.65km), Amboy/Yacanto (33.58km) and Santa Rosa/San Agustin (23.85km) stages either side of the Fernet Branca Super Special.

Rally Argentina: After Special Stage 1 (Top 10)