McShea leads the 'Junior' runners in Germany.

British driver Niall McShea leads the Junior World Rally Championship category in his Opel Corsa at the end of leg one.

The Ulsterman took the lead of the category after early leader Andrea Dallavilla had to stop and change a flat tyre in SS3, and he holds an overnight advantage of less than 10 seconds from local driver Sven Haaf's Citroen Saxo.

McShea leads the 'Junior' runners in Germany.

British driver Niall McShea leads the Junior World Rally Championship category in his Opel Corsa at the end of leg one.

The Ulsterman took the lead of the category after early leader Andrea Dallavilla had to stop and change a flat tyre in SS3, and he holds an overnight advantage of less than 10 seconds from local driver Sven Haaf's Citroen Saxo.

The next Junior WRC contender, Francois Duval, is a further 15 seconds behind, followed by Citroen's Daniel Solo and fellow Ford Puma driver, Martin Rowe. Nikolaus Schelle rounds off the top six in his Suzuki Ignis, while early leader Dallavilla is tenth.

Four 'Junior' cars retired today - all going out in the first trio of stages. Welshman Gwyndaf Evans was the first to go, his MG ZR sidelined with electronic problems on the road section before SS2.

Austrian David Doppelreiter's Peugeot 206 went off on the next stage while Norway's Martin Stenshorne had to abandon the contest on the road section after SS3 when the engine of his Opel Corsa overheated following accident damage on the previous stage.

The driver worst affected over the first trio of stages was Gianluigi Galli whose Fiat damaged its rear brakes and left the Italian driver to limp through two stages before service where the team withdrew the ailing car.

Overall JWRC after Leg one / SS8:

1.Niall McSheaOpel Corsa Super 16001hour 23mins 53.2secs 2.Sven HaafCitroen Saxo Super 1600+00mins 09.4secs3.Francois DuvalFord Puma Super 1600+00mins 23.8secs4.Daniel SolaCitroen Saxo Super 1600+00mins 26.4secs5.Martin RoweFord Puma Super 1600+01mins 22.1secs6.Nikolaus SchelleSuzuki Ignis Super 1600+01mins 33.4secs

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