World Rally Championship — Dani Sordo Leads Rally Spain After Day One

By Sukesh

Published: Saturday, October 15, 2016, 15:49 [IST]

Hyundai factory driver Dani Sordo has claimed the lead in Rally of Spain after the conclusion of day one stages.

World Rally Championship — Dani Sordo Leads Rally Spain After Day One

Sordo snatched the lead from Volkswagen driver Sebastien Ogier in the afternoon loop of stages. The Spanish driver took advantage of his road position in the muddy slippery stages and has 17 seconds overnight lead.

Volkswagen driver Ogier was leading the pack after the morning stages, but Sordo outpaced the French driver to take the lead by his favourable road position.

Ogier's VW teammate Andreas Mikkelsen made good progress in the afternoon to take third position in the leaderboard after the end of leg one.

Whereas the third VW factory driver Finn Jari-Matti Latvala retired in the fifth stage of the day with a broken suspension. He will restart under Rally2 rules on day two.

Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville also hit problems and damaged the front of the car and his engine was overheating due to damage to the radiator. He is right behind Mikkelsen in fourth.

Another Hyundai driver Kiwi Hayden Paddon also made good progress to take fifth overall after some muddy stages of day one.

M-Sport driver Mads Ostberg is in sixth despite the transmission problems throughout the day. Citroen drivers Kris Meeke and Craig Breen are in seventh and eighth overall respectively. Ford Fiesta WRC drivers Ott Tanak and Eric Camilli rounded off the top ten finishers.