Subaru look to salvage team points

The Norwegian was forced to retire with suspension damage after striking a rock on the sixth stage, while teammate Chris Atkinson lies over a minute adrift in fifth behind the two Citroens and two Fords.

Team boss David Richards said: "Petter's retirement is very disappointing, especially given his form in the opening stages. But Chris again demonstrated his maturity with a measured drive and this has been rewarded with a strong fifth place.

"We must now aim to salvage manufacturers' points in the next two days."

Solberg was equally frustrated with his retirement after sharing the lead with Dani Sordo after one stage, and running second until SS3.

"This morning was good, but it's so disappointing to retire on the first day," he said. "We had the pace notes and things were looking pretty good, but that's just how it is. We just need to keep going and see what happens in the next two days."

Atkinson, meanwhile, is happy to maintain a solid fifth place.

"It's in line with our target for this event and I think we've set a realistic pace," he said. "We've not been taking any risks today as the grip has been so tricky. It would have been easy to make a mistake and throw it off.

"We've made some changes to the car today and there is still more to come for tomorrow."