Hirvonen holds day one lead

With only the short 1.9km Super Special Stage to run today, Ford team-leader Mikko Hirvonen holds the day one lead of Rally Sweden, having overturned the early advantage of his Citroen rival Sebastien Loeb.

The first full day of competition in Sweden was a story of two halves, with Citroen C4 driver Loeb holding the upper hand on the morning loop of stages but Hirvonen more than making up the time in the afternoon.

Today’s action was based on the most northerly roads of the rally, around the Service Park in Hagfors. Conditions were perfect for winter rallying, with clear blue skies and temperatures dipping below -15ºC. Stage conditions, however, were extremely tricky. With the frozen ice base of the morning pass deteriorating before the second pass, making grip levels difficult to judge, and creating ruts to throw the cars off line.

After struggling to settle into his driving in the morning, Hirvonen trailed early leader Loeb by more than four seconds at the midday halt before pushing his winter tyres hard in the afternoon, and winning two of the three tests to lead by a margin of 8.4sec. "Yeah, it’s been good, and since the last stage this morning we’ve found a good rhythm," said Hirvonen. "We’re not too far ahead yet though, so we have to try and keep this up."

Loeb, meanwhile, arrived back in Hagfors wondering whether his start position of first on the road had held him up. "Maybe I’m cleaning a bit or maybe he’s faster I don’t know - but it’s been difficult," he said. "Sweden has always been a difficult rally for me - especially on the second passes though, so at the moment the result is not so bad. I’m still in contact with the lead and happy to be in the fight with Mikko again."

Loeb’s team-mate Dani Sordo is third after a fast and consistent day in his C4 WRC. The Spaniard dropped out of the top-three stage times only once - when snow blocked his car’s air filter on SS6 - and he remains only 12.2sec behind Hirvonen. "It’s been a good day," acknowledged Sordo. "I had a good feeling with the car and my confidence is high. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow."

Jari-Matti Latvala is fourth in the second BP Ford Abu Dhabi team Focus. Like Hirvonen, Latvala’s day took improved in the afternoon - particularly after he raised his car’s ride height and hardened the rear suspension. He was fastest on SS6 but worn tyres prevented him from trying to match that on SS7. "Overall it’s been quite okay maybe not as good as I expected, but I’ll see what I can do tomorrow," he said.

Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier is fifth, 38.6sec behind Latvala, but with the honour of being the first non-manufacturer team driver. "It’s my first time here, so it’s been a good day" he said. "My tyres were too worn to be able to do much here (SS7) but I’ve ended the day in front of a lot of good drivers. But there’s a long way to go..."

Thirty five second further back in sixth is Henning Solberg in his Stobart Team Ford Focus, with his team-mate Matthew Wilson one and a half minutes behind in seventh. Norwegian privateer Mads Ostberg ran as high as seventh in his Subaru Impreza before going off in SS5. He ended the day eighth.

The challenging stage conditions caused problems for several big name drivers including Petter Solberg, who lies ninth after spinning on Thursday’s Super Special and getting stuck in a snow bank today. "Yesterday and this morning there was something wrong with the car, now I’m here with no tyres left and a missing rear spoiler, so it’s not exactly been a good day," he said. "But this is part of the game, now we have to push on."

Finns Marcus Gronholm and Kimi Raikkonen lost the most time today, Gronholm with an electrical problem on SS5, and Raikkonen stuck in a snow bank on the same stage. Both drivers re-joined the rally but both are outside the top 30.

Standings after SS7: