Sebastien Loeb takes early Rally Finland lead
Sebastien Loeb holds the lead of Rally Finland at the end of day one, extending his advantage to 7.3 seconds with a blistering time on the final stage
The leaders were relatively evenly matched through the first two stages of the Thursday evening loop, but Citroen team leader Loeb pulled clear on Mynnila.
His team-mate Mikko Hirvonen and Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala share second place, the latter frustrated with his form so far.
Mads Ostberg got off to a very strong start in his Adapta Ford and is just 0.2s down on Latvala and Hirvonen in fourth overall.
World Rally Car rookie Thierry Neuville is also impressing in fifth, 1.5s behind Ostberg.
Ford's Petter Solberg started strongly and was second for a spell, but a slower time on SS3 dropped him to sixth.
Returnee Chris Atkinson holds seventh place in the Citroen usually driven by Olympic medallist Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Leading positions after SS3: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 15m07.1s 2. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 7.3s 3. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 7.3s 4. Mads Ostberg Adapta Ford + 7.5s 5. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior + 9.0s 6. Petter Solberg Ford + 9.2s 7. Chris Atkinson Qatar Citroen + 15.6s 8. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford + 18.2s 9. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford + 21.1s 10. Jari Ketomaa Autotek Ford + 33.1s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Loeb had "no chance" against three-car Audi team in Dakar after Al-Attiyah exit
Loeb's Dakar victory hopes end with mechanical issues on Stage 11
Why Loeb v Ogier duel gave the WRC's new hybrid era the ideal start
What’s going on in the F1 2025 driver market?
Ricciardo brushes off F1 future worries, new chassis brings "peace of mind"
Who is riding at the 2024 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix?
Sainz: All my best 2025 F1 seat options are "still open"
How Rovanpera showed his class above his WRC rivals in Kenya
How a new 'old' challenge is capturing the spirit of British rallying lore
How Lappi survived Swedish snow carnage to snap his lengthy WRC drought
The new WRC highs Neuville reached to defeat Monte master Ogier
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments