At the end of the first full day of competition in Rally de Portugal, Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala has taken the overnight lead with team-mate Mikko Hirvonen in second. Reigning World Champion Sébastien Loeb holds third, after both he and Sébastien Ogier slowed in the final stage to gain more advantageous road positions on Saturday.Rally de Portugal got underway yesterday when the crews travelled north to Lisbon for the opening super special stage in the capital city. After this spectacular street stage – won by Hirvonen – the action began in earnest this morning and drivers were faced with two loops of three stages covering a total of 129.14 competitive kilometres.Hirvonen maintained his overnight advantage for the first two stages this morning, but was overhauled by Ogier in the third stage. The Frenchman – who won this event last year – held on to the lead until the final stage of the day when he tactically slowed to ensure he does not run first on the road tomorrow. He will start fourth. Both Hirvonen and Latvala have had a trouble-free day and Latvala remains unconcerned about heading the field on Saturday. Behind the closely-matched top four, Henning Solberg has climbed to fifth. The Norwegian’s only problem was a misfire early this morning but he has steadily moved up from seventh. Matthew Wilson holds sixth with local hero Armindo Araujo seventh. The Portuguese is piloting the all-new Mini John Cooper Works car which makes its competitive debut in Super 2000 guise. Federico Villagra is eighth with Kimi Räikkönen ninth, the Finn sustaining a puncture in stage five. Khalid Al Qassimi rounds off the top 10. Retirements of the day include Petter Solberg, who has been slowed by four punctures, two in the final stage, forcing him to stop. Mads Ostberg was also forced out this morning with a combination of gearbox and transmission problems.

Results after Day 1

1.   Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila2.   Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen3.   Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena4.   Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia5.   Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor6.   Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin7.   Armindo Araujo/Miguel Ramalho8.   Federico Villagra/Jose Diaz9.   Kimi Räikkönen/Kaj Lindström10. Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr