UPDATE 1-Rallying-Gronholm crash fuels Loeb's title hopes

(Updates at end of first leg, adds quotes)

DUBLIN, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Ford's Marcus Gronholm crashed out of Rally Ireland on Friday, handing Citroen's Sebastien Loeb the lead and boosting the Frenchman's bid for a fourth successive world championship.

At the end of the first leg, with 10 stages completed, Loeb led Spanish team mate Dani Sordo by 11.2 seconds. The Sligo-based rally, making its championship debut, ends on Sunday.

Gronholm, four points ahead of the Frenchman at the start of the penultimate rally of the season, had led overnight after a short super-special stage in Belfast but smashed into a stone wall on the fourth stage south of the border.

"The accident happened near the finish on a wide, right corner," said the Finn. "I braked for the bend but it was extremely slippery and the car skated off the road.

"I managed to turn it sideways before hitting a stone wall hard. It was a big, big impact because the car stopped immediately."

The wheels on the driver's side were ripped off and officials halted the stage while the crew received medical attention.

Gronholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen were taken to hospital for precautionary checks and then discharged.

However the team said in a statement that the car's roll cage was too badly damaged for them to restart on Saturday.