KEY POINTS:
Fire, Fords, Finns and frustration summed up Petter Solberg's day as he finished sixth after the first day of Rally New Zealand in the Waikato yesterday.
The Norwegian former world champion, on the comeback trail in his Subaru after second place in Australia last month, had no answer to a commanding performance by Ford's Marcus Gronholm as the tall Finn established a commanding lead on some of the longest stages in the world championship.
By the time Gronholm had completed the short fifth stage of the day back in Hamilton he had a 31.2s lead over his young teammate, Mikko Hirvonen, with Citroen's Dani Sordo a further 45s away in third place.
Peugeot's Manfred Stohl and Citroen's Xavier Pons were fourth and fifth, while Solberg languished in sixth place, already 1m 42.5s behind Gronholm.
First Kiwi was Masterton's Richard Mason, 15th overall and fifth in the production world championship, led by Finn Jari-Matti Latvala in a Subaru.
"I had really only the one problem with a post in the morning but we're keeping safe and going fast," said Gronholm. "It has been no problem going first and maybe I have a little bit of speed in hand."
Gronholm hit a fence post and punctured a tyre on the 20km first stage in the morning, but he was still 17s faster than Hirvonen with Solberg floundering more than a minute further back as he struggled for grip on the muddy surface.
The monster 43km second stage at Te Koraha confirmed Gronholm's pace as he was 12s faster than Hirvonen and more than half a minute faster than Solberg, who finished the stage in spectacular style with smoke pouring from his right rear wheel.
The smoke turned to flames after the finish and welded the wheel to the car. Only some kicks and jolts freed the wheel and allowed Solberg and co-driver Philip Mills to make a change and head back to service.
In the afternoon the field repeated the stages and times improved as the roads dried in the sunshine. Gronholm was almost 30s quicker in Te Koraha and Solberg reduced his morning time by more than a minute.
"It was better than this morning," said Solberg. "We were as fast as Marcus on the fast stretches but in the tight and twisty we were all over the place." Motorcycle star Valentino Rossi was understandably cautious early in the day but his speed increased with his confidence. He was 24th overnight.
"I'm feeling much more confident in the car and with better roads I will look for faster times," he said.
Mason, the national rally champion, showed that he is not out of place among the world production cars but the other Kiwi in the class, Chris West, had a frustrating day.
He had a puncture on the long stage and finished the day in 23rd place.
Dunedin's Emma Gilmour, in 19th place, leads the women ahead of Natalie Barratt, 36th, and Kirsty Nelson, 37th. The only major casualty of the day was British Ford driver Matthew Wilson, who dropped out with an overheating engine.
Today the cars complete six stages from Port Waikato to Te Akau. The rally finishes tomorrow at Mystery Creek at 3pm.
