Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier’s hopes of a seventh straight title looked bleak after a disastrous start to RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally de España on Friday morning.

Stage info: SS1/2 SS1: Gandesa 1, 7.00km

Friday’s shortest test is driven in the same direction to last year. After an initial 700 metres of asphalt, it runs on gravel throughout, descending all the way from the start outside Gandesa to the village of Bot. It flows nicely on a solid surface, but there are several rocks lying on the inside of the early asphalt corners. SS2: Horta - Bot 1, 19.00km

All apart from the opening 700 metres was driven in 2018 as the Pesells stage. It is very fast throughout, running mostly on an excellent gravel surface but with several short stretches of asphalt to add an extra challenge. The final 4km are twistier than the rest of the stage, with a tricky hairpin immediately before the finish.

The Frenchman was fastest through the opening Gandesa speed test in his Citroën C3 before power steering problems cost 45sec in the following Horta - Bot special stage.

Ogier gave a rueful smile at the finish before confirming he struggled for the entire test. “Straight away. I have to look,” he said, before heading off to try to make repairs ahead of the next La Fatarella - Vilalba stage, the longest of the rally at almost 39km.

Citroën Racing team principal Pierre Budar shed some light on Ogier’s issue. “So far we’re quite sure it’s a hydraulic problem, but we’re not clear where it has come from. Seb and Julien have done some work to get the hydraulic power steering back.

“I think it will be a very long and difficult stage for them - it will be physical and demanding. "Of course, it’s quite a disappointment because they will lose a lot of time in the next one.”

Ogier trails championship leader Ott Tänak by 28 points and, realistically, nothing less than a victory on this mixed surface encounter will keep him in the title battle with just the final round in Australia remaining after this weekend.

Thierry Neuville, the third man in the title fight, was the early leader in his Hyundai i20. He held a 0.4sec advantage over team-mate Dani Sordo, despite a few niggly issues.

“I had a lot of mud on the windscreen so had bad visibility for a lot of the first stage. I’m not so confident with the rear of the car. The traction is good but we’re sliding from the rear too much,” said the Belgian.

Sordo was second in both stages and 1.5sec clear of Kris Meeke, who survived a close call in Gandesa when a bump threw his Toyota Yaris onto two wheels. Team-mate Tänak was fourth, with only 2.7sec covering the leading quartet.

Finns Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen completed the top six.

Grip on the gravel roads varied following the massive thunderstorms earlier in the week. The open parts of the stages had dried but the shaded sections remained slippery and muddy, and there were a myriad of tyre choices as drivers searched for the best option.

Both Jari-Matti Latvala and Elfyn Evans complained of a lack of traction, the Welshman suffering a half-spin in his Fiesta in SS2. Sébastien Loeb was the only driver to opt for hard tyres on all four corners and the i20 driver reported similar problems.

Head to WRC+ to watch All Live from RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally de España, including every stage broadcast live, breaking service park news and expert studio analysis.

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