Rallying-Loeb in complete control in Monte Carlo

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb looked in complete control of the season-opening Monte Carlo rally on Friday after heading for the overnight stop in Monaco with a lead of two minutes 12.4 seconds.

The eight-times world champion played it safe on the treacherous mountain roads in southern France while new Finnish team mate Mikko Hirvonen turned up the pace to end the third day in fourth place.

"It was hard to make the right tyre choice this morning but for this one it was like a normal Tarmac stage. I was not taking any risks," Frenchman Loeb told the wrc.com website after the 13th 29.89-km stage.

Spain's Dani Sordo was in second place in a Mini after a tight battle with Ford's Norwegian former champion Petter Solberg, who lost time after cutting a corner too tight and breaking a rim that then punctured the tyre.

Solberg's team mate Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland crashed out on the opening day.

Tyre choice was again crucial with Sordo starting off on unstudded winter tyres on a day on which drivers raced through rain, fog and snow over precipice-hugging roads with icy stretches.

"In the first two stages the car felt good," said Sordo.

"In the first stage it was good as I had the right slick tyres. In the second, even though the studs would have been better, I know overall we took the right choice. We still need to stay focused as anything can happen on this rally."

Russian Evgeny Novikov was fifth in a Ford on his Monte Carlo debut.

Competitors spend the night in Monaco after a 239-km road section from Valence, with four more stages on Saturday before the most glamorous race on the calendar finishes in the Mediterranean principality on Sunday.

This year marked a return of the race to the world championship after three years with the Intercontinental Rally Challenge series but the build-up has been overshadowed by concern about the championship's future promotion.

Promoters North One Sport had their contract cancelled this month by the governing FIA after the parent company went into administration.

Jean Todt, president of the FIA, told reporters in Valence that he was confident a solution would be in place before the next round.

"We are working to have a satisfactory agreement for the rest of the championship and for the following years. We are very optimistic that we are able to find proper solutions before the Swedish Rally," he said.

"We have a fantastic opportunity to have a better WRC and a better rally sport.

"It's not to be achieved in one day but if we work well together with the new promoter, which will be chosen with the organisers of the events, the competitors, the manufacturers, we will be able to go back to a very strong championship."