Sebastien Loeb started his home Rally in the best way possible by leading the first day ahead of Ford rival Jari-Matti Latvala. Both drivers are separated by a 13-second gap going into Day 2.
Loeb had Latvala right on his tail in the morning, but the Frenchman managed to double the gap in the afternoon after clinching a commanding victory on Hohlandsburg-Firstplan.
Mikko Hirvonen ended Day 1 in third place, a further 19 seconds behind the leaders with Petter Solberg less than a second behind. Thierry Neuville meanwhile spun while trying to catch Hirvonen for third, which dropped him to seventh, the Frenchman spun again while trying to take sixth from Dani Sordo.
Sebastien Chardonnet moved past Chris Atkinson in the standings, the Frenchman is now in tenth position on his first outing in a Citroen World Rally Car.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 1h17m32.6s 2. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 13.1s 3. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 32.6s 4. Petter Solberg Ford + 33.3s 5. Dani Sordo Prodrive Mini + 48.8s 6. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior + 55.4s 7. Mads Ostberg Adapta Ford + 1m00.3s 8. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford + 1m22.4s 9. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford + 1m35.9s 10. Sebastien Chardonnet FFSA Citroen + 2m51.0s