Day 1am: Solberg on top

The Norwegian was 8.7 seconds quicker than 2002 champion Marcus Gronholm, who was second in his Peugeot 307 after SS1, just over two seconds clear of third-placed Ford Focus driver Markko Martin.

But after two of the first day's four stages, it was WRC points leader Sebastien Loeb who closed the gap to Mexican leader Solberg.

The young Frenchman, who has won both the Monte Carlo and the Swedish rallies so far this season, was fourth after one stage and 14.1 seconds behind Solberg, but fastest time on SS2 bumped him up to second, 7.1 seconds behind Solberg.

The Citroen star was encountering more loose gravel on the roads than anyone else thanks to being the first runner on to the stages, but still managed to outpace WRC returnee Harri Rovanpera in the second Peugeot on SS1. The Finn was clearly not finding much advantage from having won the event before, or his ninth place on the road.

Loeb's sterling performance pushed Gronholm and Martin back to third and fourth. Citroen driver Carlos Sainz was fifth after two stages, having leapfrogged Rovanpera. Ford's Francois Duval and Subaru's Mikko Hirvonen were seventh and eighth while Mitsubishi man Gilles Panizzi looks like he's got a tough Mexican event ahead, being 56.5 seconds off the pace in ninth.

Panizzi's team-mate Gigi Galli was 10th after SS1 but Finnish Hyundai Accent driver Jussi Valimaki took the place after stage two.