OLBIA, Italy (AFP) - Frenchman Sebastien Loeb in his Citroen was quickly out of the blocks as he won two of the opening three specials in the Rally Sardinia first stage around Olbia on Friday.

Young Finn Jari-Matti Latvala in a Ford Focus won the opening special in the sixth round of the world championship but a mistake on the 33km second then let in four-time world champion Loeb.

Last month, Loeb was cursing his luck as he crashed out of the Rally of Jordan following what he labelled a "stupid" accident as he was driving between stages.

Latvala was not alone in suffering on the second special with Gigi Galli suffering a puncture in his Ford, after which elected not to lose time changing the wheel but instead driving on some 20km to limit the damage to a minute and a quarter behind Loeb.

Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen stood third in his Ford Focus with 38.8sec to make up on Loeb after the latter successfully maintained his early form in snatching the third special.

Following the opening session and with three specials to come Loeb had a 22.5sec advantage over Citroen teammate Dani Sordo.