Sebastien Loeb becomes the oldest driver

Sebastien Loeb became at 46 the oldest driver to lead a round of the world rally championship after ending Friday's opening leg of Rally Turkey with a 1.2 second advantage over Hyundai team mate Thierry Neuville.

The Frenchman, a nine-time world champion and three-time Rally Turkey winner who now races only in selected events, was competing for the first time since January's Monte Carlo season-opener.

Turkey is the fifth round of the championship.

"I didn’t expect to be leading tonight," he told the wrc.com website after the two short and dusty evening speed tests totaling a mere 25.22 kilometers.

"The last stage, I had a lot of pressure at the start because we didn’t find the road so good. I had precise notes so I was able to do it and leading the rally tonight is the best thing that can happen."