Hirvonen takes the rally lead

Mikko Hirvonen moved into the lead of Rally Finland on Friday’s opening stage after completing the 12.75km Urria 2.1sec quicker than anyone else.

The Finn, who won Neste Oil Finland in 2009, jumped ahead of overnight leader Petter Solberg who slipped to third overall.

Hirvonen’s team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala set the second-quickest time and moved into second overall, putting the two BP Ford Abu Dhabi team cars in the top two positions.

Defending world champion Sebastien Loeb was third fastest, with Petter Solberg fourth and Sebastien Ogier rounding off the top five times.

After overnight rain, which left the stage damp in places, conditions were bright and sunny for Friday’s opener, with a temperature of 22 degrees at the finish control.