Frenchman takes early lead

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb won the opening stage of the Rally of Finland last night, beating Subaru's Petter Solberg by just two tenths of a second.

Ford drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Marcus Gronholm were third and fourth, while Australia's Chris Atkinson was equal sixth in his Subaru.

The remainder of day one's stages take place tonight (AUS time). 

Overall times after SS1:

1. Sebastien Loeb Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC 06 1mins 21.4secs M1

2. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +00mins 00.2secs M1

3. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +00mins 00.5secs M1

4. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +00mins 01.0secs M1

= Daniel Carlsson Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 05 +00mins 01.0secs

6. Daniel Sordo Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC 06 +00mins 01.3secs M1

= Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +00mins 01.3secs M1

= Kosti Katajamaki Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 05 +00mins 01.3secs M2

9. Henning Solberg OMV Peugeot Norway 307 WRC +00mins 01.4secs M2

10. Juho Hanninen Mitsubishi Lancer WRC +00mins 01.5secs

11. Manfred Stohl OMV Peugeot Norway 307 WRC +00mins 01.6secs M2

12. Jussi Valimaki Mitsubishi Lancer WRC +00mins 01.7secs

13. Kristian Sohlberg Red Devil Subaru Impreza WRC +00mins 02.0secs

14. Janne Tuohino PH Sport Citroen Xsara WRC +00mins 02.2secs

15. Xavier Pons Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC 05 +00mins 02.4secs

= Gigi Galli Pirelli BSA Peugeot 307 WRC +00mins 02.4secs

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