Gronholm holds narrow lead

Gronholm has had a slight edge on pace all day, although being first on the road has been something of a handicap for Loeb, especially in the slippery Pawse Kamuy stage that was used as SS1 and SS5.

Leg two will therefore give a better indication of their relative speed, and whether a dice for the lead can be expected. However, Loeb is well aware that finishing second to Gronholm would be far from disastrous as he is already 31 points ahead of Gronholm in the title race with five rounds to go after Japan.

Loeb was the faster of the pair through the Obihiro Superspecials that completed the Friday action, beating Gronholm by 0.5 seconds in each of their head-to-head runs.

Mikko Hirvonen remains in a secure third place - too far behind to intrude on the lead battle but comfortably clear of the rest of the field.

Fourth place is likely to be hotly contested when leg two commences. Manfred Stohl currently holds the place for OMV Peugeot, but may soon come under threat from Chris Atkinson and Dani Sordo.

Atkinson ran fourth early on before losing time first with brake problems, then when difficulty with a suspension part meant a late departure from the lunchtime service and a 50 second time penalty.

Sordo started the rally cautiously - his confidence perhaps a little rattled by his substantial accident in Finland - then began to make progress during the repeat loop.

The Subaru and Citroen number twos provided the main interest in the superspecials, arriving at Obihiro just 0.6 seconds apart. Sordo was 1.3 seconds faster than Atkinson on the first run and grabbed fifth place, and then extended his margin to 1.6 seconds during the repeat passage.

Local hero Toshi Arai remains seventh ahead of disappointed Subaru team leader Petter Solberg, who lost over two minutes with brake problems this morning.

Leading positions after leg one:

Pos  Driver         Make           Time
 1.  Gronholm       Ford     1h 11:01.9
 2.  Loeb           Citroen      + 10.5
 3.  Hirvonen       Ford       + 1:02.1
 4.  Stohl          Peugeot    + 2:20.7
 5.  Sordo          Citroen    + 2:54.5
 6.  Atkinson       Subaru     + 2:56.1
 7.  Arai           Subaru     + 3:20.5
 8.  P Solberg      Subaru     + 3:35.0
 9.  Wilson         Ford       + 4:04.8
10.  Perez-Companc  Ford       + 4:42.3