The battle for the Drivers championship has been turned upside down as both Citroen drivers crash out of Rally Australia on day 1.

The first of the Citroens to hit trouble was the 7 times Champion, Sebastien Loeb. A man who has made only few mistakes in his career in the world championship. today on day 1 of the new based Rally Australia Loeb had a 2 second lead going into stage 4.

But halfway through the 12.78-kilometre Brooklana stage after taking a right-hand turn too quickly, the Frenchman rolled his Citroen DS3 a reported 5 times and has had to retire from the event. The team is awaiting to recover the car and to inspect the full damage to see if its possible to super rally tomorrow.

This crash put his team mate, Sebastien Ogier in the lead, and blew the Championship wide open. But on Stage 6 Ogier, who could have drawn level with Loeb in the race for the world title had he won this event, hit a tree. He tried to continue but stopped approximately one kilometre later. Ogier has also had to retire meaning neither Citroens have made it to the end of day 1.