Jari-Matti Latvala emerged from the Welsh forests this evening as overnight leader of Wales Rally GB, with a 12.9sec lead over second placed man Sebastien Loeb.
Friday's opening day of the competition was a complex affair, with two ice-covered stages cancelled on safety grounds, four of the others shortened and the day's stage distance slashed from 123.68km to just 49.70km. But even though the competitive distance was less than expected, a mixture of rain, sleet and hail ensured the day remained enormously challenging.
The icy and muddy conditions initially favoured drivers running down the start order, who made use of the tyre tracks left by the cars ahead. On his competitive debut in a WRC car, Citroen's Sebastien Ogier was the early rally leader and held the position for three stages until BP Abu Dhabi team driver Latvala moved into the lead on the first of the repeated stages.
Ford's chances of challenging Citroen for the manufacturers' title were dealt a blow on SS5 when Mikko Hirvonen rolled his Focus - effectively giving Latvala the green light to go for the second victory of his career this weekend.
Citroen Total team driver Sebastien Loeb is second. Less than ten seconds behind him, P-G Andersson finished the day in third - Suzuki's best-ever daily placing in the WRC.
Just 1.5sec behind Andersson is Norwegian privateer Mads Ostberg - the man who will lead the Adapta Subaru M2 team in 2009. A slender 3.4sec behind Andersson, Petter Solberg is fifth for the Subaru World Rally Team.
Classification after Day One :
Classification after Day One :
1. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Focus Wrc) in 31"20'5
2. Loeb-Elena (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 12"9
3. Andersson-Andersson (Suzuki SX4 Wrc) + 22"5
4. Ostberg-Unnerud (Subaru Impreza Wrc) + 24"0
5. P.Solberg-Mills (Subaru Impreza Wrc) + 27"4
6. Sordo-Marti (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 32"2
7. Duval-Giraudet (Ford Focus Wrc) + 52"0
8. H. Solberg-Menkerud (Ford Focus Wrc) + 54"7
Etc.
photo:Ford
Friday's opening day of the competition was a complex affair, with two ice-covered stages cancelled on safety grounds, four of the others shortened and the day's stage distance slashed from 123.68km to just 49.70km. But even though the competitive distance was less than expected, a mixture of rain, sleet and hail ensured the day remained enormously challenging.
The icy and muddy conditions initially favoured drivers running down the start order, who made use of the tyre tracks left by the cars ahead. On his competitive debut in a WRC car, Citroen's Sebastien Ogier was the early rally leader and held the position for three stages until BP Abu Dhabi team driver Latvala moved into the lead on the first of the repeated stages.
Ford's chances of challenging Citroen for the manufacturers' title were dealt a blow on SS5 when Mikko Hirvonen rolled his Focus - effectively giving Latvala the green light to go for the second victory of his career this weekend.
Citroen Total team driver Sebastien Loeb is second. Less than ten seconds behind him, P-G Andersson finished the day in third - Suzuki's best-ever daily placing in the WRC.
Just 1.5sec behind Andersson is Norwegian privateer Mads Ostberg - the man who will lead the Adapta Subaru M2 team in 2009. A slender 3.4sec behind Andersson, Petter Solberg is fifth for the Subaru World Rally Team.
Classification after Day One :
Classification after Day One :
1. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Focus Wrc) in 31"20'5
2. Loeb-Elena (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 12"9
3. Andersson-Andersson (Suzuki SX4 Wrc) + 22"5
4. Ostberg-Unnerud (Subaru Impreza Wrc) + 24"0
5. P.Solberg-Mills (Subaru Impreza Wrc) + 27"4
6. Sordo-Marti (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 32"2
7. Duval-Giraudet (Ford Focus Wrc) + 52"0
8. H. Solberg-Menkerud (Ford Focus Wrc) + 54"7
Etc.
photo:Ford