Citroen has confirmed that Sebastien Loeb will be able to re-start on Saturday under the SupeRally format after he was forced out today in Poland following an off in SS4 - the 33.17 kilometre Paprotki 1 test.

Loeb, who had been running second, just 0.3 seconds behind Mikko Hirvonen, went out when he clouted a tree stump near the start of the test, only the third stage of the day. The impact damaged the suspension on his Citroen C4 WRC and ripped off a front wheel.

It was his second crash in as many events following his one in Greece two weeks ago and after losing third in Sardinia too - when he was handed a time penalty for a seat belt violation - another blow to his championship hopes.

"There was a tree stump on our line and we hit it," the five-time world champion told Citroen's official website.

"It wasn't in our pacenotes, and neither Dani Sordo nor Sébastien Ogier had noted it either. You can't see it on the video. It's just bad luck.

"It's often said in France that you never get two in a row, without a third, and today's incident is our third setback in succession. We will now rejoin tomorrow thanks to the SupeRally ruling, but with a 20-minute penalty.

"It's obviously not all that stimulating a prospect but we've still got a chance to pick up some Manufacturers' points."

As for the drivers' championship, Loeb was philosophical about potentially losing the lead, something that is likely, should Hirvonen win and take the maximum ten point haul.

"We had a seven point lead [coming into this event] and now we will maybe be three behind Mikko. That is it. It is still close. Everything is possible for the end of the championship," he added.

For the record, Loeb will re-join on Saturday just outside the top-30 - 19 minutes 54.6 seconds off Hirvonen in P1, 17 minutes off Conrad Rautenbach in eighth and over 15 minutes off a place in the top ten.

Overall times after Day 1 / Top 20:

1. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 1hour 02mins 23.1secs M
2. Jari-Matti Latvala BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC +00mins 08.9secs M
3. Dani Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +00mins 37.0secs M
4. Petter Solberg PS WRT Citroen Xsara WRC +01min 14.6secs A8
5. Henning Solberg Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC +01mins 21.5secs MT
6. Sebastien Ogier Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC +01mins 32.9secs A8
7. Matthew Wilson Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC +01mins 56.5secs MT
8. Conrad Rautenbach Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC +02mins 31.5secs MT

9. Krzysztof Holowczyc Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC +02mins 39.8secs A8
10. Mads Ostberg Adapta Subaru Impreza WRC2008 +04mins 31.6secs A8
11. Michal Bebenek Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +07mins 37.7secs N4
12. Maciej Oleksowicz Peugeot 207 S2000 +08mins 53.6secs N4
13. Kevin Abbring Renault Clio RS R3 +09mins 28.1secs J
14. Michal Kosciuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 +09mins 55.1secs J
15. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +10mins 02.2secs J
16. Hermann Gassner Jr Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +11mins 14.8secs N4
17. Andreas Mikkelsen Skoda Fabia WRC +11mins 15.7secs A8
18. Yoann Bonato Suzuki Swift S1600 +11mins 25.7secs J
19. Valeriy Gorban Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +11mins 54.4secs N4
20. Lukasz Sztuka Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +12mins 24.8secs N4


Overall JWRC after Day 1:

1. Kevin Abbring Renault Clio RS R3 1hour 11mins 51.2secs J
2. Michal Kosciuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 +00mins 27.0secs J
3. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +00mins 34.1secs J
4. Yoann Bonato Suzuki Swift S1600 +01mins 57.6secs J
5. Hans Weijs Citroen C2 S1600 +03mins 11.0secs J
6. Luca Griotti Renault Clio R3 +04mins 30.3secs J
7. Simone Bertolotti Suzuki Swift S1600 +05mins 09.0secs J
8. Radoslaw Typa Suzuki Swift S1600 +06mins 13.8secs J
9. Marcin Dobrowolski Citroen C2 R2 +30mins 45.5secs J


Notable retirements:

SS4. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC Went off the road. M
SS4/5. Evgeny Novikov Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC Went off the road. MT


* denotes elected/able to re-start under SupeRally format.

M - denotes Manufacturer entry.
MT - denotes Manufacturer Team entry.
J - denotes Junior WRC entry.

Sebastien Loeb sees his lead in the battle for the 2009 World Rally drivers' championship cut to seven points following the Acropolis Rally, round seven of the series.

Loeb failed to score after crashing out on day two, and with Mikko Hirvonen winning and taking the maximum ten points, the Finn has now brought himself right back into contention.

In the Manufacturers' championship the Citroen Total WRT also sees its cushion cut post-Greece, with the margin over BP Ford Abu Dhabi coming down from 28 points to 15.


World Rally Drivers' Championship (after 7 of 12 rounds):

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 55 points
2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 48 points
3. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 31 points
4. Jari-Matti Latvala BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 25 points
5. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC 08 21 points
6. Petter Solberg PS WRT Citroen Xsara WRC 20 points
7. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC 08 15 points
8. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford Focus RS WRC 14 points
9. Sebastien Ogier Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC 13 points
10. Conrad Rautenbach Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC 7 points
= Mads Ostberg Adapta Subaru WRC 7 points
12. Khalid Al Qassimi BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 6 points
13. Chris Atkinson Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC 4 points
= Evgeny Novikov Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC 4 points
15. Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza N14 1 point
= Urmo Aava Stobart VK Ford Focus RS WRC 1 point
= Lambros Athanassoulas Skoda Fabia S2000 1 point


World Rally Manufacturers' Championship (after 7 of 12 rounds):

1. Citroen Total WRT 94 points
2. BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT 79 points
3. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT 49 points
4. Citroen Junior Team 24 points
5. Munchi's Ford WRT 18 points


Production Car World Rally Championship (for drivers) (after 6 of 8 rounds):

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza N14 39 points
2. Armindo Araujo Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 35 points
3. Patrik Sandell Skoda Fabia S2000 28 points
4. Eyvind Brynildsen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 22 points
5. Martin Prokop Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 18 points
6. Toshi Arai Subaru Impreza 16 points
7. Lambros Athanassoulas Skoda Fabia S2000 10 points
= Andis Neiksans Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 10 points
9. Marcos Ligato Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 8 points
= Patrik Flodin Subaru Impreza WRC STi 8 points
11. Frederic Sauvan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 6 points
12. Spyros Pavlides Subaru Impreza N14 5 points
= Gianluca Linari Subaru Impeza STi 5 points
= Gabor Mayer Subaru Impreza 5 points
15. Mark Tapper Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4 points
16. Jaromir Tarabus Fiat Grande Punto S2000 3 points
= Charalambos Timotheu Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3 points
= Bernardo Sousa FIAT Grande Punto S2000 3 points
19. Guarav Singh Gill Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2 points
20. Martin Semerad Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1 points


Junior World Rally Championship (for drivers) (after 5 of 8 rounds):#

1. Michal Kosciuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 36 points
2. Aaron Burkart Suzuki Swift S1600 30 points
3. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 28 points
4. Alessandro Bettega Renault Clio R3 14 points
5. Kevin Abbring Renault Clio R3 12 points
6. Simone Bertolotti Suzuki Swift S1600 11 points
7. Yoann Bonato Suzuki Swift Sport 10 points
8. Hans Weijs Jr Citroen C2 S1600 9 points
9. Luca Griotti Renault Clio R3 8 points


# Note: The Acropolis Rally of Greece did not count as part of the Junior World Rally Championship.