Istanbul World Rallycross: Timmy Hansen tops day one for Peugeot

Swede Hansen was third fastest in heat one, before beating recently crowned world champion Petter Solberg into the first corner of heat two to win the race and finish top of the Saturday rankings.

"The track here is very tight and slippery, it's all about not making mistakes," said Hansen.

"Today I think we have done the best job of not making any. It's really good to be top."

Toomas Heikkinen was fastest in heat one, but could only manage 10th-fastest time in heat two, where he jumped the start. That dropped him down to second overnight.

Scandinavian Touring Car Championship frontrunner Richard Goransson is third, the Swede putting in another impressive performance after his podium finish on his World RX debut at the last round in Italy.

Solberg won his first heat race but had a half-spin while chasing Hansen in heat two.

The Norwegian was then passed by countryman Andreas Bakkerud when taking his joker on the last lap. Bakkerud is fourth overall, Solberg sixth.

Outgoing European Rallycross champion Timur Timerzyanov had a torrid day. Handbrake problems in heat one slowed his time and left him 11th fastest.

Starting on the the inside of the grid for heat two, the Russian was squeezed into the wall at the first corner, removing the left rear wheel from his Peugeot and putting him out.

The squeeze had come from Belgian Jos Jansen, who moved across on Andy Scott, who in turn was pushed into the side of Timerzyanov.

Jansen spun later in the lap, giving Scott a considerable lead. But when he caught Jansen and tried to lap the slowing Ford Focus towards the end of the race, Scott was spun off by the Belgian, giving both punctures. Scott is 11th overnight, Timerzyanov 14th and Jansen 16th.

New EKS RX driver PG Andersson missed heat one after the squad had to change the engine in his Audi S1.

There was even worse news for Solberg's team-mate Sten Oja, who suffered a turbo problem in practice and didn't make it out for either heat race.