McRae masters the elements.

Ford Martini driver Colin McRae led the Monte Carlo Rally at the close of today's opening leg after a dramatic day in the French Alps, which saw more retirements then during the whole of last years event - including all three factory Peugeot's.

Early morning snow, requiring the leading drivers to fit studded snow tyres to their vehicles, gave way to moist asphalt as temperatures rose. Tyre selection became tricky as the opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship, watched by huge crowds, lived up to its reputation as the most unpredictable event in the calendar.

The snow-covered roads kept the big names down the leader board for the opening two speed tests as they ploughed the road clear to the benefit of the lower runners. However, McRae and Grist quickly climbed the order as the roads cleared and set fastest time on the fourth of the day's six special stages, covering a total of 141.74km, to take the lead. They ended the day 30.6sec ahead of Tommi M?kinen, with teammate Sainz in third another 3.3secs down.

"This is a good opening day to the season," said 32-year-old McRae. "They were very tricky stages and in such conditions it's easy to slip up. My approach was a cautious one and that paid off because as soon as you push too hard you make a mistake."

"The work of the ice note crews has been very important because with conditions changing quickly it would have been easy to make a wrong tyre selection but our choice was right throughout the day. If the weather stays as it is, road position should not make any difference tomorrow but if it snows again that could all change," he said.

The day had begun well for Peugeot with new signing Auriol and tarmac ace Panizzi, the team's two nominated drivers, immediately on the pace.

The teams problems began when World champion Marcus Gronholm was forced out with water pump failure, that then caused his 206 WRC's engine to overheat on the second stage of the day.

Marcus said: "With about 15km left to run, the water temperature leapt up to 140 degrees and all of the lights on the dashboard started flashing. I stopped to check but couldn't find anything, so I carried on. We made it to service, but there's nothing we can do. I'm disappointed, of course, but all I can do is look to the next round in Sweden."

His new team-mate Didier Auriol inched into an early lead, despite problems with the semi-automatic shift on his car's gearbox. But near the end of the third stage, he clouted the rear of his car and lost a wheel.

Although he reached the start of the next test, event officials refused to allow him to continue on three wheels. To compound the team's misery, the third 206 of Gilles Panizzi crashed heavily in the third stage, rolling 40 metres down a ravine. Both crewmembers were taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

Peugeot Sport team principal Corrado Provera summed up the teams day, "It looks like the Monte Carlo Rally is cursed for us. Despite the fact that the car looks competitive, we've ended our challenge even earlier than last year."

In the Mitsubishi camp four-times World Champion Tommi Makinen had been pleasantly surprised by his tyre choices today, and his Lancer has been a near-constant presence in the top six throughout.

"The first two stages were extremely difficult," he said, "because there was a lot of snow and you know all the time that you're helping the later runners. But I think the second pass over those tests showed more genuine speeds and we've moved up to third there. So I'm optimistic."

Mitsubishi's Belgian driver Freddy Loix was dissatisfied with his tyre choice in SS3 and SS4, and also felt that his Lancer was a handful in the tighter sections. "You can't really play with the car when there's so much slush," he said. "You can tweak the handbrake but then you end up sliding even more and in a lot of places, there simply isn't room to get away with that."

Carlos Sainz grew in both confidence and speed as the day continued, returning to the tiny Principality of Monaco just 3.3sec behind M?kinen having set fastest time on the final stage.

"It's been a tough day," said the 38-year-old Madrid-based driver. "We made a poor tyre choice early in the day and I didn't have a good feeling with the car. But the last two stages were good and fastest time on the final test was a boost for my confidence. Third is a good start but there's a long way to go and situations change so quickly on this rally that it's far too early to think about what may happen at the finish on Sunday."

New Ford driver Francois Delecour would have preferred conditions other than snow and ice in which to make their competitive debut in a Focus RS WRC, but the Frenchman quickly came to terms with the car to record fastest time on only the third stage. Two punctures in the final three stages cost time but it was an impressive performance from the 38-year-old driver.

"I was delighted with fastest time on the third stage," he said. "We could have set the scratch time on the next test also but we had a puncture after15km which cost time."

"I'm learning about the Focus all the time. I'm very pleased with the car and the way it handles and the engine feels strong. I have much more to learn but this is a pretty good start for us today," added Delecour.

Subaru's day couldn't have started any worse when the teams second Impreza, nominated for manufacturers' series points, driven by Estonian Markko Martin, failed to reach the first stage this morning after electrical problems on the road section between Monte Carlo and St Andre les Alpes.

It was a particularly galling retirement for the young Estonian, whose only previous outing for the Subaru team (in Australia last year) lasted just a single stage. "I didn't think I could have worse luck than I did there," said Martin, "but now I have! I just hope I get a clean run in Sweden next month."

Last year's FIA World Championship runner-up Richard Burns felt he was too conservative on the clearer stretches of road this morning. "I was trying to keep the studs in my tyres on the wet asphalt," he said, "but I took it too steadily. There was also something clanking at the rear of the car (a damper problem) and it's been trying to swap ends at corners, which isn't very comfortable."

He languished outside the top ten after the first two stages, but recovered well during the afternoon, when the team fitted larger wheels and brakes to suit the better surface conditions, to end the leg in fourth, 1min 29.6secs off McRae.

The third Subaru, driven by Petter Solberg, benefited from the cleaned roads to fight for the lead. But a puncture apiece in SS3 and SS4 dropped him behind McRae. "I'm a bit surprised anyway because the times don't feel that fast," said the Norwegian. "You'll see a very steady drive from me here. But looking at how things are going, maybe that's the way to get a good result." Unfortunately, 8km into stage 5, the Norwegian hit a snow bank, rolled, and was forced to retire with a broken steering.

Armin Schwarz felt at home in the changeable conditions this morning, and the German was quickly on the pace as he lifted his Octavia WRC into a points-scoring position after the opening pair of stages. "It's very hard to trust the road," said Schwarz, "but that's pure Monte Carlo and I like it. The car's a handful on narrow tyres when the snow clears and you're left with wet asphalt."
But for the third and fourth stages, the 1996 European champion's weather information arrived late and he was forced to adopt a 'play safe' policy on tyre choice. He dropped out of the top six as a result.

His team-mate Bruno Thiry suffered a turbo problem 10km into the second stage and the Belgian had to drive for nearly 20km at little more than 60kph. "It was awful," said Thiry. "I felt like I was driving on a holiday." To make matters worse, he received 20s road penalties for leaving service late after the team changed the turbocharger. Shock absorber problems hampered his progress further in both SS3 and SS4, and a fuel pump failure in the latter forced him to stop and make running repairs.

Hyundai's hopes were being pinned on its renowned asphalt driver Piero Liatti this morning, but although the Italian - a former Monte Carlo winner - set fourth fastest time on the opening stage, he was forced out before the next test when his Accent WRC's engine lost oil pressure.

The other Accent of Alister McRae picked up 50s of road penalties this morning as the Hyundai team struggled to change the car's suspension in first service, but the Scot's progress on the stages was more encouraging.

He set top six times to overcome his penalty and stay in touch with the leaders, despite making too conservative a tyre choice for the third and fourth stages. "It's a shame about the penalties," said McRae, "because the car feels good on the stages. It's the first time I've driven this car, on these tyres, in these conditions, but it's generally working well."

With its four-wheel drive Xsara World Rally Car not scheduled to appear until Catalunya, Citroen's two drivers - Philippe Bugalski and Jesus Puras - are using two-wheel drive, 1600c Saxo kit cars in Monte Carlo.

Both are hoping to gain further experience of the roads and fine-tune pacenotes rather than fight for overall success, but Bugalski has still posted top-20 times in his example to lead some of the factory World Rally Cars.

Puras, however, suffered a puncture in a narrow part of the second stage, and the Spaniard found it difficult to locate a suitable place to stop and change the wheel. He lost nearly six minutes as a result, although he was able to continue.

Beyond the factory World Rally Car entries, former works SEAT driver Toni Gardemeister settled in quickly to his new mount, a privately run Peugeot 206 WRC. The young Finn was fastest overall on the opening stage but on the second, he clipped a rock and punctured his right front tyre. After trying to continue for nearly five kilometres, he stopped and changed the wheel. He dropped into eleventh place as a result, and would end the leg in tenth overall.

Swiss privateer Olivier Burri made good use of the cleaner roads to haul his Toyota Corolla into a top three placing, although he started to slide back down the leader board once the top crews got a second run over the opening pair of stages. Italian hope Piero Longhi crashed his Toyota out of the rally on the second stage.

In Group N, Hermann Gassner set an outright fastest time on the second stage! Having taken maximum advantage of a good tyre choice and roads swept clear of snow. But Manfred Stohl would eventually catch the German having made a poor tyre choice for the opening tests.

Nearly 17 hours behind the wheel and five more stages based around Digne-Les-Bains lie in wait during the second leg. It includes two runs at the feared 36.69km Sisteron, the longest and, in terms of weather conditions, the most unpredictable test of the rally.

Drivers leave Monaco at 06.00 and return at 22.40 after 132.78km of competition in a total route of 814.77km. It will be a long and arduous day.