Citroen's Sebastien Loeb started his hunt for a ninth successive world championship with a commanding victory in the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally on Sunday.

The Frenchman beat Spaniard Dani Sordo, in a Mini, by two minutes and 45.5 seconds to celebrate his sixth career victory in the 80th edition of the oldest and most glamourous event on the calendar.

The win was also the 68th of his career.

Loeb, who gained an extra three points after he was fastest on Sunday's 5.16km 'power stage', said later: “It's always a great moment to start the season like this, especially in front of so many fans

“Full points in the first rally is incredible and for sure it's the perfect start. But Monte Carlo is my rally and for the others we will have to see,” added the champion whose navigator Daniel Elena is from the principality.

Sordo's second place in the Mediterranean sunshine was Mini's best result in Monte Carlo, which rejoined the world championship this year after a three-year absence, since Finland's Rauno Aaltonen won in 1967.

The Spaniard admitted he’d had one lucky escape: “The only problem was on the second stage of the rally, we hit a bridge, we were lucky and we stayed. After that we did an incredible choice of tyres.”

Norway's Petter Solberg, whose Finnish team mate Jari-Matti Latvala crashed out on Day 1, finished third on his return to the Ford team after an absence of more than 10 years.

However the 2003 champion also collected a reprimand, a €1400 (R14 400) fine and a suspended ban for the next rally in Sweden after being caught speeding on a road section while heading to Monaco on Saturday evening.

Nevertheless, he said: “This is the best start to a WRC season I've ever had

“I love the car. It is really fast. It suits my driving style very well. I've been waiting for a long time to get into a situation like this.”

Finland's Mikko Hirvonen, overall runner-up in 2011 with Ford, finished fourth on his Citroen debut while Russian Evgeny Novikov equalled his best championship finish in fifth in a Ford.

The 21-year-old Russian also gained an extra point for finishing third in the power stage.

Frenchman Francois Delecour, a rally veteran, was sixth overall despite handing over his Ford to navigator Dominique Savignoni for the final stage as a gesture to mark his friend's last rally before retiring.

The rally was run over five days, a decision that Loeb criticised afterwards.

“I was not a fan, it's not for me. I think it's a bit long. I think it's a bit long for everybody: for the journalists, the drivers and I'm not sure it brings more media for the two extra days.

“For the private drivers, it's also more complicated, I'm not a fan of that.” - Reuters

RESULTS of the Monte Carlo Rally on Sunday

1 Sebastien Loeb (France) Citroen 4hours 32mikn 39.9sec

2 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Mini +02min45.5

3 Petter Solberg (Norway) Ford +3min14.1

4 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Citroen +4min06.8

5 Evgeny Novikov (Russia) Ford +6min03.4

6 Francois Delecour (France) Ford +7min47.9

7 Pierre Campana (France) Mini +8min31.4

8 Ott Taenak (Estonia) Ford +10min34.6

9 Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) Ford +16min10.7

10 Armindo Araujo (Portugal) Mini +16min6.6

STAGE WINNERS

Loeb (SS1, SS3-SS7, SS9, SS10, SS18)

P. Solberg (SS11, SS15, SS16, SS17)

Hirvonen (SS12, SS13, SS14)

Latvala (SS2)

Sordo (SS8)

RETIREMENTS

Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Ford

Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Citroën

Sébastien Ogier (France) Skoda

POINTS - DRIVERS after one round

1 S Loeb (France) 28 pts

2 D Sordo (Spain) 18

3 P Solberg (Norway) 15

4 M Hirvonen (Finland) 14

5 E Novikov (Russia) 11

6 F Delecour (France) 8

7 . Campana (France) 6

8 O Tänak (Estonia) 4

9 M Prokop (Czech Republic) 2

10 A Araujo (Portugal) 1

TEAMS

1 Citroën 37 pts

2 Mini 24

3 Ford 15

4 M-Sport Ford 14

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