Day 1: Solberg in charge

The Norweigen Subaru driver was fastest of all over the first two stages, although only just from the hard-charging Peugeots. Then on stage five, a 31.73km run named 'Bull', Gronholm thumped in a superb performance to subdue Solberg and take the overall lead.

But the lead was short-lived, one stage later and Groholm was on his roof! The Finn, having expressed growing confidence in his car after the previous stage, flipped the 307 on the final corner of SS6. The damage to the Peugeot was light but he lost 40s to his rivals, dropping to fourth overall behind Solberg, Rovanpera and Ford's Marko Martin.

Rovenpera then put his Peugeot in front with a blinding run on the 48.21km SS7, named 'Possum' after the late Kiwi driver Possum Bourne. Gronholm, unperturbed by his mishap, was second fastest on the stage, some 11s quicker than Solberg, and clawed himself back up to third.

Solberg readdressed the situation in the final two Manukau super special stage runs to end the day on top, five seconds clear of Rovanpera. Gronholm found himself 31s back in third place and with much to do if he is to win in NZ.

Joint World Championship leaders Martin and Sebastien Loeb finished fourth and fifth overall. The pair suffered from running first on the road. Overnight rain had cleared to leave the road surface damp and the pair found themselves cleaning the track for the later runners. As conditions improved however, so did their times. Martin in particular looks in good form to challenge later in the weekend.

Martin's Ford team-mate Francois Duval won the final stage to place him sixth overall ahead of Carlos Sainz, struggling with the set-up of his Citroen, and Subaru's Mikko Hirvonen.