Jari-Matti Latvala holds the lead after day one of Rally Finland as Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen crashed out of first place.
Hirvonen crashes out while leading home rally
Jari-Matti Latvala holds the lead heading into the second day of Rally Finland after Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen crashed out of first place.
The Finnish duo had shown good pace at their home event, with Hirvonen holding the advantage before his rally ended in spectacular fashion on the fourth stage.
Hirvonen lost control of his car over one of the event's trademark high-speed jumps and rolled five times before coming to rest on the road.
Former world champion Petter Solberg was temporarily vaulted into the lead as a result but Latvala surged to the top of the leaderboard at the end of stage six.
By the end of the day, he had a 9.1-second cushion over the privately-run Citroen of Solberg, with Frenchman Sebastien Ogier in third.
Heavy landing
"It landed nicely in the middle of the road but it was quite a heavy landing. It happened so fast, there was nothing I could do," Hirvonen told wrc.com of his crash.
"We went straight into a bank and rolled straight in the road, up the hill, for a long time.
"The speed wasn't too much but at that speed I knew when it landed we'd be lucky to stay on four wheels. The dream is over and it's just disappointing.
"We were at least at a good speed and know we're heading in the right direction. That's good. A crash like that is not going to distract me or scare me.
"It's done and we'll go to the next rallies and try to go as fast as we did here. There are still some rallies to go and we have to try and do as well as we can on those rallies.
"We were leading here and I want to get up there as soon as I can. We'll see about (winning in) Germany but for sure we'll try."
Championship leader Sebastein Loeb struggled to fourth place at the end of the first day with Finnish rally legend Juha Kankkunen an excellent seventh on a one-off appearance and Kimi Raikkonen in eighth.
