World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier has won the opening trio of stages at the Rally de Espana ahead of Volkswagen team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala.
The lead is 8.8-secs, but the Frenchmen is well in control 62 kilometres of tarmac running.
Citroen’s Dani Sordo was Ogier’s closest challenger over the first pair of stages, but deliberately slowed close to the end of the SS3, costing himself six seconds and dropping to third in order to gain a more favourable road position for the second day’s running.
Sordo’s tactical move promoted Latvala to second, ensuring that Volkswagens held the top two positions overnight.
Kiwi Hayden Paddon, who is making his World Rally Car debut on this event, is sitting eighth as he continues to learn the powerful Ford Fiesta RS.
“Good to finally get started in a WRC car,” said Paddon.
“Getting used to car but struggling with a lot of understeer which we hoping to fix at service and push more tomorrow. Plenty of room for improvement.”
Former F1 drivers Robert Kubica is 11th and leading the WRC2 class easily.
LEG 1 : Rally de Espana
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
| 1 | Sebastien Ogier | Volkswagen Motorsport | Volkswagen Polo R |
0:34:39.9 |
| 2 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Volkswagen Motorsport | Volkswagen Polo R |
+0:08.8 |
| 3 | Dani Sordo | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroën DS3 WRC |
+0:12.6 |
| 4 | Thierry Neuville | Qatar WRT | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+0:19.1 |
| 5 | Mikko Hirvonen | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroën DS3 WRC |
+0:27.3 |
| 6 | Andreas Mikkelsen | Volkswagen Motorsport II | Volkswagen Polo R |
+0:27.8 |
| 7 | Evgeny Novikov | Qatar M-Sport WRT | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+0:28.5 |
| 8 | Mads Ostberg | Qatar M-Sport WRT | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+1:07.7 |
| 9 | Hayden Paddon | Qatar M-Sport WRT | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+1:09.0 |
| 10 | Martin Prokop | Jipocar Czech National Team | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+1:13.0 |
