Citroen's Sebastien Loeb remains in the lead on the Rally d'Italia Sardegna following the opening loop on Saturday - but the Frenchman isn't looking quite so secure at the top of the pack.

Indeed the four time world champion was no match for the BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT duo of Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen this morning and he had to settle for the fourth best time in SS7 and SS9 and the third best in SS8.

Furthermore while he still managed to increase his overnight advantage, stretching his lead from 35.7 seconds to 42 seconds, he conceded that he was finding it tough running first on the road.

"We always knew that being first on the road this morning wouldn't be easy," Loeb explained. "To tell the truth, it's actually quite fun when there's so much gravel to clear because you're sliding all the time, but it's no good at all for your stage times!

"There was nothing wrong with the handling of my C4 WRC. On the contrary, I am very happy with the set-up and I have a good feeling - it's just that there's a huge difference between running first on the road and, say, sixth.

"This afternoon's loop promises to be difficult, too, and we will no doubt have more 'road-sweeping' to do. We will try to push as hard as we can in a bid to pull out a gap that will give us a bit of a cushion for the last day. If we can do that, we won't be too prone to the 'road-sweeping' duty that awaits us again tomorrow."

Hirvonen and Latvala meanwhile have both made up ground, with the former going from fourth to second and the latter up from seventh to third, now just 12.4 seconds off his team-mate, having set the pace in every single test today.

"I attacked at 110 per cent on the first stage but before the next test we had a think about my pace and I eased back a little," said Latvala.

"After my puncture yesterday, I didn't expect to be in the top three today. I have a great road position and that made a big difference this morning. I'll try to catch Mikko this afternoon."