At the end of a remarkable opening four stages of the Sanremo Rally, Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso leads by 27.6 seconds from Peugeot Italy's Luca Rossetti.

However, the last epic stage of the rally - the 59.66 kilometres of Ronde - was suspended after an accident for privateer Peugeot driver Sandro Sottile blocked the stage. The crew was uninjured but no other cars were able to pass, leaving several stuck in the stage.

With the rally running progressively behind schedule, the organisers took the decision to call a halt to proceedings early - at just before 01:00 - and so Basso is the leader of his home event at the end of the first day.

His Abarth team mate Umberto Scandola, who was fourth in Sanremo last year, won the opening pair of stages to pull out a healthy lead by the time the cars reached service in Sanremo after the first three stages."It's going perfectly," he said at the time. "The car has been absolutely fantastic and we haven't made any mistakes."

This was not to last however, as on the long stage he ripped a wheel off his Grande Punto and was forced to retire. His was not the only Abarth to hit problems: Andrea Navarra's car stopped with a transmission-related issue. Salvaging the Italian team's honour was Giandomenico Basso, who now has a lead of nearly half a minute after an extremely impressive performance

Rossetti was pleased with a provisional second place, but said that there was more to come. "I'm not pushing as hard as I could be," he said. "I also lost a few seconds at the start of one stage because I did not get my time card back promptly. All things considered though, we're doing quite well. I'm just going to drive my own rally and not get distracted by anything else."

Freddy Loix ends the opening day third, having been impressed by the magnitude of the night stage. "It's not something that many people of our generation are used to," he said. "But it's a good exercise and you certainly feel it afterwards."

The Honda Civic Type R R3 of Alessandro Bettega currently leads the IRC 2WD Cup classification in Italy.

IRC RESULTS AFTER SS4, SANREMO RALLY (ITALY)

1Basso/Dotta    Abarth Grande Punto S2000    1h06m12.0s
2 Rossetti/Chiarcossi    Peugeot 207 S2000    +27.6s
3 Loix/Buysmans    Peugeot 207 S2000    +35.2s
4 Vouilloz/Klinger    Peugeot 207 S2000    +45.2s
5 Travaglia/Granai    Abarth Grande Punto S2000    +1m09.2s
6 Andreucci/Andreussi    Mitsubishi Lancer (N)    +1m15.3s
7 Cantamessa/Capolongo    Peugeot 207 S2000     +1m21.3s
8 Casier/Miclotte    Volkswagen Polo S2000    +1m39.5s
9 Alen/Alanne    Abarth Grande Punto S2000    +1m45.6s
10 Torlasco/Brega    Peugeot 207 S2000    +1m49.1s

Two-wheel drive leader: Alessandro Bettega (Honda Civic Type R R3)

*All results subject to confirmation following stoppage of SS4.

THE ROUTE TOMORROW

Tomorrow's action starts early, meaning that none of the Sanremo crews can expect to get much sleep after the tough opening leg. There are four stages in total on Friday, split into two loops of two stages with service in between at Sanremo.

The opening stage of the day, the 24.97-kilometre Monte Ceppo 1, gets underway at 07:59, and from there the crews head straight to the classic San Romolo stage, which starts at 08:58 and is 12.91 kilometres long. At 09:48, the leader will clock into service at Sanremo.

After leaving service the crews repeat the morning's loop of stages. Monte Ceppo 2 starts at 10:56 while San Romolo 2 begins at 11:55. The crews then clock into parc ferme at 13:21: a considerably earlier finish than they faced on the opening leg!

Once more, Friday's are run over classic Sanremo roads. These tend to be twisty but flowing and can be slippery in places; requiring drivers to quickly find a good rhythm. The asphalt tends to be in good condition, giving a reasonably consistent level of grip, but as always the weather can be unpredictable .

TV TIMES

Eurosport will broadcast the Sanremo Rally regularly, and it is also possible to watch the rally live on www.rally-irc.com, and the Yahoo Eurosport platform thanks to Eurosport's live streaming system. To watch, simply log onto the website and click on the 'watch live streaming' message in the flash news banner. Alternatively, click on the flag of your preferred language in the Yahoo Eurosport box. All times listed below are Central European Times. At the end of each leg, there will be on-demand video highlights posted in the 'video highlights' section.

Friday 26 September
09:55-10:25 LIVE (Internet)
12:30-13:00 (Eurosport + Eurosport Asia-Pacific + Internet)
Regular repeats overnight on Eurosport 2 until 07:30

Saturday 27 September
11:30-12:00 LIVE (Eurosport 2 + Eurosport Asia-Pacific + Internet)
14:45-15:15 LIVE (Internet)
17:00-17:30 (Eurosport + Eurosport Asia-Pacific + Internet)