Reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier won the first special stage of the Rally of Argentina late Thursday in the tourist centre of Merlo, 234 kilometres south of the race's Villa Carlos Paz base camp.

The Frenchman clocked 2 minutes 32 seconds on the 2.7-kilometre track to edge his Volkswagen Polo into first place ahead of Northern Irishman Kris Meeke in a Citroen DS3.

But there was little to separate the top teams with the first five all within a second of Ogier.

The rally continues on Friday with five special stages in the province of Cordoba.

Rally of Argentina standings after first special stage:

1. Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (FRA/Volkswagen Polo-R) 2:32.0, 2. Kris Meeke-Paul Nagle (GBR-IRL/Citroën DS3) at 0.2, 3. Andreas Mikkelsen-Ola Floene (NOR/Volkswagen Polo-R) at 0.2, 4. Jari-Matti Latvala-Mikka Anttila (FIN/Volkswagen Polo-R) at 0.3, 5. Dani Sordo-Marc Marti (ESP/Hyundai i20) at 1.0
Source: AFP