Norway's Petter Solberg has taken the first stage of the Rally Finland ahead of Finland's Mikko Hirvonen and six-time world champion Sebastien Loeb of France.
Solberg, the 2003 world champion, covered an uphill stretch of 4.19 kilometers, on both asphalt and gravel, in two minutes, 33.2 seconds, one second ahead of Hirvonen and 1.6 faster than Loeb, who tied with Jati Latvala of Finland.
They were followed by Norway's Henning Solberg, Frenchman Sebastien Ogier and Spain's Daniel Sordo.
Citroen driver Loeb leads the championship standings on 151 points, ahead of second-place Ogier on 100.
The drivers will negotiate a total of 310 kilometers on the famously fast gravel roads in three days.
New Zealand's Hayden Paddon was the 33rd fastest driver, clocking two minutes 53.9 seconds in his Pirelli-backed Mitsubishi Evo X
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