Kris Meeke was fastest on SS3 of the 2009 Rallye Monte Carlo as Juho Hanninen remains at the top of the leaderboard at the end of day 1.
The third and final stage of the day proved to be best suited for the latter runners on studded tyres as it began to snow heavily in the hills. This was Meeke's first stage win on the IRC and it moved him up to sixth overall in the standings. Juho Hanninen did enough to maintain his lead but is now only 11.9s ahead of second place man Stephane Sarrazin.
Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg driver Nicolas Vouilloz lies 3rd overall and 33.9s off the lead. Sebastien Ogier is 4th despite suffering a puncture near the end of SS3 while Freddy Loix lies in fifth place.
Toni Gardemeister suffered a very costly puncture as he went with the wrong tyre choice and is currently down in 8th.
Rallye Monte Carlo Overall Standings after Day 1:
1. HÄNNINEN/MARKKULA (Å koda Fabia S2000) 56:32,8 min
2. SARRAZIN/RENUCCI (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 11,9 s
3. VOUILLOZ/KLINGER (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 33,9 s
4. OGIER/INGRASSIA (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 49,3 s
5. LOIX/SMETS (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 54,6 s
6. MEEKE/NAGLE (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 1:01,3 min
7. BASSO/DOTTA (Abarth Grande Punto 2000) + 1:29,8 min
8. GARDEMEISTER/TUOMINEN (Abarth Grande Punto S2000) + 1:35,5 min
9. WITTMANN/ETTEL (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) + 3:31,2 min
10. KOPECKÃ/STARÃ (Å koda Fabia S2000) + 4:30,0 min
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