World champion Sebastien Loeb leads the Rally d'Italia after claiming three stage victories in the opening leg in Sardinia.

The Frenchman, criticised by rallying officials recently for his "scruffy looks", held a comfortable 35.7 second advantage over Citroen team mate Dani Sordo of Spain.

Having built up an advantage by winning stages two and three on the gravel roads of the island, Loeb seemed to ease off slightly.

"I'm not being more cautious, yes I'm trying to avoid punctures, but I'm pushing," he told the official World Rally website.

The four-times champion is five points behind Finland's Mikko Hirvonen in the overall standings after five rallies.

Hirvonen will have to improve in Saturday's and Sunday's leg if he is to hang on to his lead. The Ford driver was placed fourth after Friday's exploits, just behind Norway's Petter Solberg.

"I don't know why but I can't go any faster," Hirvonen said after the early stages. "We just can't go quicker. I tried to push but there's no grip whatsoever. It looks bad."

Fellow Finn Jari-Matti Latvala won the first stage but then suffered a puncture and lost the front bumper of his Ford Focus.

He recovered to take the sixth stage and finish the day in seventh.

Gigi Galli also picked up a puncture early on but delighted the home crowd with victory in the fourth stage, which helped him end the first leg in sixth place.

Overall times after SS6/Day 1 - Top 20:

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1hour 31mins 27.6secs M

2. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +00mins 35.7secs M

3. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2007 +00mins 53.8secs M

4. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 07 +00mins 58.9secs M

5. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2007 +01mins 09.0secs M

6. Gigi Galli Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +01mins 12.3secs MT

7. Jari-Matti Latvala BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 07 +01mins 31.1secs M

8. Henning Solberg Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 07 +01mins 52.5secs MT

9. Urmo Aava PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +02mins 19.8secs A8

10. Toni Gardemeister Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +02mins 22.9secs M

11. P-G Andersson Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +03mins 02.1secs M

12. Conrad Rautenbach PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +04mins 05.5secs A8

13. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 07 +04mins 08.4secs MT

14. Matthew Wilson Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +04mins 25.3secs MT

15. Mads Ostberg Adapta-Subaru Impreza WRC +05mins 47.6secs A8

16. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +09mins 30.9secs J

17. Michal Kosciuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 +09mins 34.6secs J

18. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio S1600 +10mins 13.0secs J

19. Alessandro Bettega Renault Clio R3 +10mins 54.7secs J

20. Jaan Molder Suzuki Swift S1600 +11mins 07.0secs J

Overall JWRC after SS6/Day 1 - Top 10:

1. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 1hour 29mins 02.3secs J

2. Michal Kosciuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 +00mins 03.7secs J

3. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio S1600 +00mins 42.1secs J

4. Alessandro Bettega Renault Clio R3 +01mins 23.8secs J

5. Jaan Molder Suzuki Swift S1600 +01mins 36.1secs J

6. Florian Niegel Suzuki Swift S1600 +03mins 23.9secs J

7. Shaun Gallagher Citroen C2 S1600 +03mins 37.1secs J

8. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 S1600 +04mins 57.7secs J

9. Stefano Albertini Renault Clio +05mins 56.3secs J

10. Hans Weijs Jr Citroen C2-R2 Max +06mins 34.8secs J

Notable retirements:

SS2. Andreas Mikkelsen Ramsport-Ford Focus RS WRC Rolled. A8

SS2. Peter van Merksteyn Ford Focus RS WRC Rolled. A8

SS4. Khalid Al-Qassimi BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 07 Lost a wheel. A8

* denotes elected/able to re-start under SupeRally format.

M - denotes Manufacturer entry.

MT - denotes Manufacturer Team entry.

J - denotes Junior WRC entry.

Crash.net / Reuters