Starter trouble costs Loeb the lead

A faulty starter motor in his Citroen cost championship leader Sebastien Loeb the top position after the first day of Rally New Zealand yesterday.

Finland's Mikko Hirvonen, driving a Ford, will take a 27.8-second lead over the Frenchman into today's second day, with Loeb's team-mate Spaniard Dani Sordo a further 2.2 seconds back following five stages around the Waikato region.

Loeb leads the World Rally Championship table on 76 points, four ahead of Hirvonen and well clear of the rest of the field.

He may well have led after the first stage but for incurring a 30-second penalty when he was late for the second half of the split stage four around Waitomo.

The Frenchman, just 0.07sec behind Hirvonen at the time, blamed it on a starter problem.