AJACCIO, Corsica, 18 October 2003 — Favorite Sebastien Loeb took a narrow lead after the first day of the Rally of Corsica yesterday but had built a 19.5-second advantage over championship rival Richard Burns.
After brake problems during the first stage pushed him down to seventh, the Frenchman was in the top three of the remaining five stages in his Citroen to take a 3.9-second lead over second-placed Francois Duval’s Ford at the end of the day.
World champion Marcus Gronholm, in a Peugeot, was third five seconds back with teammate Burns of Britain sixth.
Estonia’s Markko Martin, who led after the opening three stages, spun his Ford near the end of the fourth and lost more than 25 seconds.
Martin recovered to win the fifth and sixth stages on the Mediterranean island and was in fifth place overall in his Ford, 18.5 seconds back.
