SS4 : Hirvonen fastest

Mikko Hirvonen’s bid to make up lost ground on Neste Oil Rally Finland has got off to the perfect start when he went fastest of all on Friday’s opening stage.

Driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, the Finn was 10.9s quicker than Sebastien Ogier with his Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb 0.1s further back.

“It was not the perfect drive because I was too cautious on the narrow part of the stage,” said Hirvonen, who lost more than two minutes on Thursday following his stage one off. “We’ll have to try to go faster on the next stage.”

In the battle for the overall victory, Ogier is now 2.7s behind Loeb. “It’s a good way but it’s not a lot,” said the Citroen DS3 WRC ace. “We didn’t take maximum risk on this one.”

Loeb said: “It’s very close between Ogier and me. We had a good driving through the stage, it’s a little humid but some [loose] gravel in the narrow part. I’m satisfied but it’s not easy.”

Factory Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala was fourth fastest in his Fiesta RS WRC. He said: “I’m not completely happy - we need more traction. When we come to the narrow part I am struggling. Maybe I have the car set up too hard so we will have to change it by making some suspension clicks. I’m struggling.”

Petter Solberg has moved into fourth position overall in his self-run Citroen despite almost going off the road. “I did a big mistake and stopped completely in a right-hand corner and lost a lot of time,” said the Norwegian.

Jari Ketomaa, fourth at the start of day two in his privateer Fiesta, lost time during the stage and slipped to fifth. He said: “I am disappointed. On the small road I was too cautious because it was very tricky. The rhythm went a little bit away but there’s still a long way to go.”

MINI WRC Team driver Dani Sordo reported a small misfire early in the stage and has dropped behind Mads Ostberg into seventh position in the overall classification.

Standings after SS4: