Sordo says he can go quicker

Sordo has started five snow rallies in his WRC career with Citroen, but the fifth place he scored on last year's Rally Norway remains his best result.

The 26-year-old, who won the last month's Arctic Rally as a warm-up for this week's WRC opener, led Rally Sweden after last night's superspecial and is currently lying third, just six seconds behind leader Sebastien Loeb.

"It's a good start," Sordo said. "I'm very happy so far. The snow was not so good in the last stage this morning, it was a bit soft, but otherwise it's been very good. The Arctic helped me find the feeling on this rally I'm pushing and I want to push a bit more. I think there is maybe a little bit more to come, but not much."

Asked if he thought he could break his WRC duck on this event, he replied: "Why not?''

Loeb admitted his team-mate's speed came as no surprise to him. The six-time champion said: "We have seen Dani's progress through last year, we knew he could do this. He's going very well."

Second-placed Mikko Hirvonen, who ended the loop just 4.1s up on the Spanish C4, added: "I am a little bit surprised at his speed. He's certainly increased his speed and he seems to be getting quicker."

The crews will return north of service in Hagfors for a repeat of this morning's three stages before heading back to Karlstad for a second and final run around the Karlstad superspecial test this evening.