Gronholm takes early lead

The Ford driver won SS1 by 7.2 seconds, and then extended his advantage to 14.8 seconds through the 43.88km long Waitomo 1.

But second-placed Sebastien Loeb believes the deficit was largely due to an errant tyre choice on his part, and is determined to fight back this afternoon.

"I had a very soft tyre and the car was moving a lot, especially in the first stage," Loeb said. "We'll try to do better next time."

In past New Zealand events drivers further down the running order have benefited from better road conditions, but on this occasion overnight rain made the loose gravel less of an issue and allowed the championship leaders to pull away from the rest of the field.

Gronholm's Ford teammate Mikko Hirvonen is already somewhat lonely in third place, 12 seconds clear of Chris Atkinson.

After a promising time in Pirongia West, Atkinson was unhappy with his Subaru's handling in Waitomo. But he fared much better than his teammates, with Petter Solberg 27 seconds and four places behind Atkinson.

Solberg is also running behind the third Impreza of Xevi Pons, who is five seconds ahead of the former world champion in only his third event since returning to the World Rally Championship with Subaru.

Stobart Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala is impressing again in fifth position, 6.7 seconds behind Atkinson, and 6.6 clear of sixth-placed Dani Sordo in the second Citroen.

Henning Solberg and Manfred Stohl - who swapped positions in SS2 - complete the initial top ten.

Pos  Driver     Car      Time
 1.  Gronholm   Ford     42:28.3
 2.  Loeb       Citroen  +  14.8
 3.  Hirvonen   Ford     +  33.6
 4.  Atkinson   Subaru   +  46.3
 5.  Latvala    Ford     +  53.0
 6.  Sordo      Citroen  +  59.6
 7.  Pons       Subaru   +1:06.9
 8.  P Solberg  Subaru   +1:12.1
 9.  H Solberg  Ford     +1:24.0
10.  Stohl      Citroen  +1:33.2