Gronholm leads the way

FIA World Rally Championship leader Marcus Gronholm was in imperious form on day one of Rally Finland in Jyvaskyla on Friday.

The Finn won eight out of 10 stages as his quest for a seventh title on home soil – a feat which would set a new record for a single WRC event – remained on course.

Only BP-Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen stayed in touch on the blisteringly fast gravel in the WRC ninth round.

Hirvonen, who is third in the WRC standings, seven points behind second-place Sebastien Loeb, won stage four and was in a dead-heat with Gronholm in stage six as he consistently pushed his compatriot in the battle for supremacy, closing the day with a deficit of 4.4 seconds.

Citroen Total’s Loeb, who is nine points adrift of Gronholm in the overall standings, finished the day 20.2secs behind, while Chris Atkinson (Subaru) is a further 26.7 further back.

Britain’s Guy Wilks (Mobil-Ramsport Ford) is two minutes, 28.7 seconds off the pace, while Matthew Wilson (Stobart Ford) is a further minute behind, 3:28.7 adrift of Gronholm.

And Gronholm is optimistic of extending his lead on Saturday.

He said: “Being first on the road today was not the best.

“Tomorrow will be better for me, I know the roads more.”

The championship leader praised his team, particularly Hirvonen.

“For Ford, it’s been a great day. The new car is good, Mikko is fast, and we are leading.”

Loeb is aware he is in a fight for third place. He said: “I tried hard all day but the Fords were too fast.

“I don’t know what the plan is tomorrow, but we have to keep pushing.

“The problem is that the Subarus are not too far behind,” he added on the threat of Atkinson and Petter Solberg, who is fifth.

“We have to keep pushing or they will come back into contention.”

Australian Atkinson won the 2.06-kilometre Killeri super special stage on Thursday night, but Friday’s action belonged to the host nation.

Stobart Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala won stage two ahead of Hirvonen and Gronholm in an all-Finnish top three before Hirvonen and Gronholm, respectively, claimed wins.

Gronholm was quickest on all three tests that made up the middle part of the day, a repeat of those run in the morning. However, he could only take a 0.8-second advantage over Hirvonen after stage 7.

The Ford duo continued to pull away, with Gronholm edging out his team-mate stage eight before establishing a 2.7-second lead after stage nine.

Gronholm completed a clean sweep of afternoon stages to open up a 3.8 second lead, while Sebastien Loeb stayed third, 20.1 seconds behind.

Gronholm made it eight successive test wins in the Killeri super special race which completed the day’s racing.

Latvala was forced to retire after losing his rear wheel in stage seven, while Kristian Sohlberg (Mitsubishi Lancer) rolled out of stage two.

However, Stobart Ford rider Latvala intends to rejoin the action on day two, incurring a 25-minute penalty in accordance with Super Rally rules.