Sect. 1, Oltepesi: Skoda leads Safari!

Schwarz's time of 55m05.0s on the World Rally Championship's longest timed section was just four seconds quicker than Makinen's, despite the Finn having a large bird smash into the windscreen of his Mitsubishi Lancer 15km before the end of the test.

The bird hit the top left of the windscreen, just above Makinen's head, showering the driver with glass. "It was very difficult after that," said Makinen, who won this event in 1996.

The man who is tying with Makinen in the championship, Ford's Colin McRae, set the third fastest time on the first of Leg One's four timed sections, 28 seconds off Schwarz's benchmark time.

Following Burns' retirement, Subaru's charge was left in the hands of young gun Petter Solberg. The Norwegian was fourth fastest through Oltepesi in his Impreza.

Carlos Sainz was another driver who experienced difficulties on Friday morning. The Spaniard's Ford Focus had a puncture 25km from the end of the section and he finished a full 1m49.0s off Schwarz's pace. Reigning world champion Marcus Gronholm rounded out the top six on SS1. His Peugeot 206 WRC was 18 seconds further back from Sainz.

The cars now head to service at Whistling Thorns before attempting the second of the leg's sections, Kajiado.

For Sect 1 Oltepesi results click here.

For full live timings table click here.