Henning Solberg, elder brother of Petter, saw his hopes of a top-three finish dashed when he was forced to stop on stage nine with mechanical problems.

BBC: Marcus Gronholm had won four of the six stages on day one

Gronholm reduced the deficit with a win in stage nine, which saw Manfred Stohl retire from 10th place with mechanical problems.

BBC: SPORT | Motorsport | Rallying | Loeb in command in Germany Rally