KEY POINTS:
There was action aplenty on the first day of Rally New Zealand yesterday, enough in fact to cover three days.
At the end of play, the BP Ford of Mikko Hirvonen sat atop the heap with Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb 27s back, and Daniel Sordo and Jari-Matti Latvala a further three seconds back. Then there's nearly a minute to Francois Duval and the chasing pack.
"I just have to go out there [today] and just do what I have to do," said Hirvonen. "It's going to be difficult as there's lots of gravel. The car's been perfect and I have a very good feeling with it. If I think about having to start first tomorrow it won't change anything, so why bother."
The day started fine and the roads were dry, not ideal for championship leader Loeb, who had to lead the pack away, sweeping the roads as he went. When his Citroen arrived at the end of the first stage he looked decidedly shaken. It transpired he had almost put his car on its lid towards the end.
"We were lucky not to roll," said Loeb. "I went over some big stones and almost put the car over. The gravel is undividable with hard tyres without any cuts."
The same sentiment about the tyres was echoed by many other drivers. But for some that was the least of their worries.
Seventh on the road, Henning Solberg's Ford's power-steering malfunctioned and he had to manhandle the car with more brute force than finesse.
His younger brother Petter, in a Subaru, had a torrid time in the morning trying to get his car up to speed and his bad luck continued into the afternoon. "It is impossible, I cannot go one second faster," said Petter Solberg.
Petter Solberg's teammate Chris Atkinson had a good morning but it all came unstuck during the first stage in the afternoon. Halfway through the stage he rolled the car and had to retire for the day.
During the afternoon, Loeb regained his mojo after his morning scare and climbed back up the standings until, despite rumours of tactical card-playing, he picked up a 30s time penalty at the start of stage 4.2, giving Hirvonen some breathing space.
Hirvonen's teammate Latvala, with Citroen driver Daniel Sordo, played a waiting game, staying out of trouble. "I was going fast but didn't push it to the maximum. I haven't lost too much time so I'm not too worried," said Latvala, 23.
In the P-WRC, the New Zealand Rallyart team with Juho Hanninen had a mare early on when he rolled the car. The good news though, is that there's a Kiwi who jumped out the gate like a scalded cat.
After two forgettable rallies, Richard Mason spent the day mixing it with the best and finished the day 12th, coming home in front of a number of the P-WRC drivers.
"I don't really feel like we are going that fast," said Mason. "We try hard everywhere we go but I don't feel we're being silly."
It was Chris West, who gained his P-WRC drive via a NZ Rally scholarship, who had the biggest fright of the day when during stage three his steering wheel came off in his hands. He got the car back to service but dropped well down the order.
