Loeb leads in San Remo

Pre-event favourite Sebastien Loeb got the San Remo Rally off to an ideal start with victory on the opening 12.4km Perinaldo stage. The Frenchman clocked a time of 7min 56.2secs to beat Ford's Francois Duval into second by just half a second, confirming the expected pace of the Focus WRC this weekend. Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm was third with Gilles Panizzi fourth. Title leader Richard Burns was 13 seconds adrift in tenth!

RESULTS: Stage 1

Sebastien Loeb is clearly on an early charge on the San Remo Rally. The Frenchman destroyed his rivals on the 36.4km Ceppo 1 run, beating Marcus Gronholm by 14.7 seconds to open up a 16-second overall lead. Francois Duval continued his brilliant start in third with team-mate Markko Martin fourth. Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae and Gilles Panizzi filled the midfield with Subaru's Petter Solberg a disappointing eighth after breaking his suspension strut.

RESULTS: Stage 2

Ford's Markko Martin has battled back into contention following a stunning victory on the 19.2km Cosio 1 stage. The Estonian was a massive five seconds quicker than overall leader Sebastien Loeb with Gilles Panizzi and Ford's Francois Duval setting the exact same time in third. Marcus Gronholm was fifth with Brits Colin McRae and Richard Burns sixth and seventh. Ford's Mikko Hirvonen retired with a broken cam belt.

RESULTS: Stage 3

Estonian Markko Martin has continued his charge up the leaderboard with victory on the 25.3km Bartolomeo 1 stage. The Ford ace was 1.2 seconds quicker than Sebastien Loeb with Gilles Panizzi third once again. Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm consolidated third overall in fourth with Francois Duval continuing his great run in fifth. Subaru's Petter Solberg faired slightly better in eighth with Richard Burns still off the pace in ninth, now tenth overall.

RESULTS: Stage 4

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb extended his rally lead to 22 seconds over Ford's Markko Martin thanks to a narrow victory on the 12.4km Perinaldo re-run. The Frenchman was just half a second quicker than the Estonian with Marcus Gronholm remaining in contention in third. Gilles Panizzi continues to struggle with the set-up of his 206 WRC with the fourth best time with Sainz, Duval and McRae close behind. Richard Burns was 18 seconds off Loeb's pace and is now over two minutes adrift overall.

RESULTS: Stage 5

Sebastien Loeb capped a magical day with a crunching victory on the he day's final stage. The Frenchman was over ten seconds quicker than Ford's Markko Martin through the 36.4km Ceppo re-run to end the day a comfortable 32.4 seconds ahead of the Estonian with Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm 17 seconds further adrift. Citroen's Carlos Sainz clocked the stage's fourth best time to leap to fourth overall, pushing Francois Duval down to fifth and Gilles Panizzi now sixth. Richards Burns ends the day 11th!

RESULTS: Stage 6

Stay tuned to eurosport.com for live coverage of day 2 of the San Remo Rally on Saturday.