World champion Sebastien Loeb has withdrawn from the Acropolis Rally after suffering a crash that "destroyed" his Citroen C4 during Saturday's first stage of the seventh leg of the World Rally Championship.

The Frenchman, who won the first five rallies of the season, spun off the road eight kilometres from the start of the 17.25km-Klenia Mycenae seventh stage on a high-speed sixth gear section.

Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena both emerged unscathed from the crash, which is more than can be said for the C4.

"It was my fault," Loeb admitted. "It happened after I went around a high-speed right-hand corner, I was bit too sideways then the hit a big stone with the left-hand front wheel and that sent the car into the air.

"The car rolled over five or six times.

"The car is destroyed. There's no chance to return tomorrow - the race is over. We are okay, that's the main thing."

After two uncharacteristically disappointing rallies, Loeb said his hopes of a record sixth consecutive world title were still very much alive.

"Yes we might have lost a lot of championship points but we are still leading - and that's an important point," he said.

"Maybe my lead will be less, and that will make it more exciting for some people. It's bad for Citroen, but that's the race. We'll do better next time."

Loeb had been third overall before the crash and his inability to restart on Sunday means it will be his first non-finish since Sweden 2008, and only his third since 2006.

Finland's Mikko Hirvonen, leading the rally and second in the overall standings behind Loeb, said he was trying to remain focused on the stages ahead.

"That's something new," he said of Loeb's crash. "But there a long way to go yet. I need to keep it together myself."

Second-placed Dani Sordo cut the gap to Hirvonen to 1.8sec, but admitted he was not forcing the pace.

Sordo has spent three seasons as Loeb's support driver at Citroen but now has a rare chance to push for his first victory on the WRC circuit.

"I don't know what we'll do yet," the Spaniard said. "I'm not pushing Mikko too hard, at the moment I'm controlling my pace to look after my tyres."