Thierry Neuville held the provisional lead of Rallye Monte-Carlo yesterday evening, the Belgian in the all-new Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC taking a 7.8 second advantage over reigning World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier in the opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

The Frenchman is piloting the latest generation Fiesta WRC for the first time and, despite limited seat time, continues to demonstrate the talent of a four-time world champion. Early in the event, Toyota driver Juho Hänninen has powered the Yaris WRC to an encouraging third in the first of the Japanese manufacturer’s world championship rallies in 17 years.

The first stage of the event was however cancelled due to an incident involving Hayden Paddon. The crew were unharmed but it was later confirmed that a spectator needed to be transferred by helicopter to Nice hospital and later passed away. Everyone associated with the event extends their deepest sympathies and condolences to the families, friends and individuals affected.

Overnight, fourth position is held by Citroën’s Kris Meeke and Ogier’s two new team-mates – Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans – are fifth and sixth respectively.

The first full day of competition of the 2017 Rallye Monte-Carlo gets underway on today and takes in two loops of three stages to the north of Gap, forming the lengthiest day of competition.