Sébastien Loeb leads the fight in Finland

Sébastien Loeb Although he does not feel very comfortable in Finland, in addition to his position as opener, that does not prevent him from occupying the lead of the event at the end of the first stage (three special stages). At the end of the 39,74 kilometers covered, the seven-time world champion has a lead of 2??8 over his teammate Sébastien Ogier, second ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford), who remains in contact with the Citroën drivers, only trailing by 4??4.

Jari Ketomaa is in fifth place, seven seconds behind, in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. The Finn surprised the WRC paddock by taking the scratch in the first special of the Rally of the 1000 Lakes. He is ahead of Petter Solberg (Citroën), fifth, 12??6 behind the leader, and Dani Sordo (Mini), who made a good start with his Mini WRC (+ 14??3).

Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) is the big loser of this day. The Flying Finn was keen to get back on track after his spectacular exit last year, but he hit a tree on the first stage, damaging his Fiesta RS WRC. He finished the first stage more than two minutes from the lead of the race.

Kris Meeke (Mini) is a little behind his teammate. The Briton is ninth at 20??9 from Sébastien Loeb, behind Ott Tanak, impressive at the wheel of his Fiesta S2000, and Mads Otberg (Ford). Kimi Räikkönen (Citroën) is 13th at 35??3.

Tomorrow, the crews will cover 134,6 timed kilometers spread over eight special stages. The start of the second stage will be given at 8 a.m. with the Hassi special.