WRC: First Saturday Monte stage cancelled

The first stage of Saturday's leg of the Monte Carlo Rally has been canceled for safety reasons.

The 12-mile Prunieres-Embrun stage was due to commence the day's action at 9.16 a.m. local time, but was called off shortly before the start. Very large numbers of spectators had congregated on the stage, particularly in the closing miles, and rally officials were concerned that safety could not be guaranteed if a car went off the road.

The cancellation reduces Saturday's first loop to just one stage, Lardier et Valenca-Faye, which is the longest of the event at 32 miles. Prunieres - Embrun is scheduled to be repeated on Saturday afternoon.

Sebastien Ogier leads the rally by 1m45s over Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala after Sebastien Loeb's victory bid came to an end with an error on Friday's final stage.

Loeb could not get his damaged Citroen back to service and had to retire from the day, picking up a 10-minute penalty for doing so on the last stage. The nine-time World Rally champion will therefore rejoin in 15th place when Saturday's stages do begin.

Originally on Autosport.com