Starters Following Thursday's super special in the city of Manukau, 54 competitors left Auckland parc ferme at 0530hrs this morning Route Leg one, the longest of the event, comprised 141.92 competitive kilometres and nine stages. Apart from the super specials, stages were based 140km north of Auckland Weather Conditions remained dry and warm all day. Air temperatures started at 17°C this morning, rising to 22°C by mid-afternoon. Stages were smooth, dry gravel with some patches of mud Subaru World Rally Team Summary After completing nine of 23 stages, Petter Solberg holds the overnight lead of Rally New Zealand. On the first leg of the competition Solberg put in an excellent performance at the wheel of his Subaru Impreza WRC2004 and collected four stage wins. On his fourth event with the Subaru team, Mikko Hirvonen gained more vital experience of the event and the Impreza WRC2004. He holds overnight 8th place, and is on target to collect more championship points on Sunday. SS1 1925hrs (Thurs) Manukau Super 1 2.10km New Zealand's biggest annual sporting event got off to an electrifying start at the super special stage at Manukau City, 20 minutes south of Auckland. Thousands of spectators flocked to the floodlit stage and were thrilled by head-to-head sideways action as the World's leading drivers put their state-of-the-art cars through their paces on the tricky figure of eight course that included a jump and water splash. Ford's Markko Martin took the first stage win, with Marcus Gronholm of Peugeot second and Martin's team-mate Francois Duval third. Fastest Time: Martin (Ford) 1:24.5 SS2 1955hrs (Thurs) Manukau Super 2 2.10km A second run through the crowd-pleasing super special brought more close racing from the leading WRC drivers. Competing in his Impreza WRC2004, Petter Solberg was fastest with Marcus Gronholm second. Mikko Hirvonen, Harri Rovanpera and Markko Martin all stopped the clock at the same time to tie third, despite the Ford driver suffering a shattered windscreen due to stones flicked up by Gronholm's Peugeot. There was bitter disappointment for the Mitsubishi team when both of their Lancer WRC04 entries developed an identical electrical problem that prevented their engines starting before the stage. Unable to make it to the line, drivers Gilles Panizzi and Kristian Sohlberg retired from the rally. After the stage Markko Martin received medical treatment to remove a sliver of glass from his eye. Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 1:22.4 SS3 1013hrs Wairere 1 18.90km Warm and sunny conditions greeted the remaining WRC drivers at the start of the first 'proper' test of the event, the 18.90km stage at Wairere. Running at the head of the field, Citroen's Sebastien Loeb and Ford's Markko Martin commented that they were struggling to find grip on the loose and slippery road surface, they lost 17 seconds and 10.5 seconds respectively to the leading drivers. Capitalising on lower running positions and cleaner roads, Subaru's Petter Solberg and Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm set exactly the same time to tie for the stage win and finish 5.9 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Petter's time kept him in the overall lead of the rally, even though he had an uncomfortable stage when fumes from a hot spare tyre irritated his eyes. The problem was caused when the rear silencer of his car's exhaust system was bumped closer than normal to the boot floor and the spare wheel well. Finnish gravel expert, Harri Rovanpera was third fastest, with Peugeot privateer Daniel Carlsson fourth. Following the successful medical procedure the previous night, Marko Martin's eye was causing him no discomfort. After the finish line, cars moved directly to the start of SS4. Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) & Gronholm (Peugeot) 10:42.5 SS4 1051hrs Cassidy 15.78km As air temperatures rose to 20°C, Solberg was again fastest in his Impreza WRC2004 to notch up his third consecutive stage win. Rovanpera was second fastest and Martin, competing in the new Focus WRC04, third. Current WRC leader Loeb continued to be impeded by his first-on-the-road running position and was seventh fastest, losing a further 12.4 seconds to Solberg. Not a good start to the event for Peugeot driver, and Petter's brother, Henning Solberg. Competing in a Bozian prepared 206, the Norwegian went off the road mid test and was unable to continue. After the finish, crews moved directly to the start of SS5. Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 9:13.7 SS5 1114hrs Bull 31.73km 2003 World Champion co-driver Phil Mills described SS5 as a classic New Zealand stage, 'very flowing, very cambered and very fast.' While the dry and loose surface continued to cause headaches for the front-runners, it wasn't all good news for those cars further down the order. Many of the faster corners became slippery as leading competitors who were taking aggressive cuts on the corners flicked mud from the soft verge onto the road. This time Gronholm was quickest, while another storming run from Solberg saw the Norwegian finish second. Adopting a cautious approach to the opening stages, and adjusting his driving technique to suit the demanding and heavily cambered road conditions, Mikko Hirvonen was eighth fastest. Sainz was ninth, commenting that his car felt nervous and his pedal brake 'spongy'. There were no retirements and after the finish crews returned to Paparoa for the second service of the day. Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 19:55.6 SS6 1313hrs Wairere 2 18.90km There were nervous moments for the Peugeot team on the second run through the Wairere test, when Marcus Gronholm rolled his 307 just meters from the finish. Charging through the test (he had been fastest at the previous split time), the three-time winner of the event clipped the apex of a right-hand corner, which flipped the car over. Ironically, Gronholm almost rolled his 206WRC in a similar incident on exactly the same corner last year. Despite comprehensive bodywork damage, the Finn was able to continue, but lost 39.2 seconds and the overall lead. His team-mate Rovanpera took the stage win, while Solberg was second and Duval third. Mikko Hirvonen was eighth fastest, after running wide on a corner and bouncing his Impreza across a ditch. Fortunately the car landed back on the road and the young Finn, who was contesting his second WRC New Zealand event, was able to continue. After the finish, crews completed the 12.43km road section to the start of SS7. Fastest Time: Rovanpera (Peugeot) 10:27.2 SS7 1346hrs 48.21km Possum (Cassidy / Bull) A repeat of SS4 and SS5, the Cassidy and Bull stages were combined to make the marathon 49km SS7 which was named in memory of New Zealand rally driver Possum Bourne, who died last year. Recording an average speed of 100kph, Rovanpera was fastest, to take the overall lead of the rally from Solberg, while his team-mate Gronholm, battling with dust pouring into the cockpit from a broken passenger window, was second fastest. Loeb was third. Commenting that his tyres had been too soft, Markko Martin struggled to find sufficient grip in his Focus though the final 20km and posted the sixth fastest time. After the finish, crews returned to Paparoa for a scheduled service. Fastest Time: Rovanpera (Peugeot) 28:55.9 SS8 1925hrs Manukau Super 3 2.10km Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 1:24.8 SS9 1946hrs Manukau Super 4 2.10km Thousands of spectators once again enjoyed the thrilling spectacle of nighttime rallying as the drivers went head to head on the floodlit super special in Manukau. A stage win (SS8) and a second-fastest time (SS9) from Solberg saw him re-take the rally lead from Harri Rovanpera by a margin of five seconds. Fastest Time: Duval (Ford) 1:24.0

Team Quotes   David Lapworth, Subaru World Rally Team Principal We came here looking for a benchmark of the performance of our new car against the new Citroen, Ford and Peugeot and overall we're very satisfied with the result of the first day. Petter came here hungry for a win and, at this point, is perfectly poised to achieve this. Mikko's clear objective is to develop his driving style, learn more about the event and gradually build his pace. He's right on plan. It's far too early to begin speculating about final results at this stage, but I'm happy that we've made such a good start. Petter Solberg I'm happy, we've had no major problems at all today. The new tyres from Pirelli have been very good, perhaps they were a little too soft on the long section (SS7), but I'm very happy with the general set up. We've had a good battle with Harri today, but Leg one is just a warm up. We'll see what happens tomorrow, that's when the real rally starts. Mikko Hirvonen It's been a very encouraging day. I'm happier with what I've achieved today than my performance on the first day in Mexico. Looking at the state of my tyres after the stages, my driving is less aggressive now and is more effective. I've still got some way to go before I have a rhythm that I'm totally happy with on these stages, but I'm encouraged and looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow's Leg Leg two starts at 0530hrs, when crews will leave Auckland parc ferme for the first service of the day. Comprising a further eight stages and 138.84 competitive kilometres, the Leg is based around the Paparoa service park, 140km north of Auckland. Including two loops of four stages, the first starts at 1123hrs, and the final stage at 1657hrs. Mikko Hirvonen will start the Leg running third on the road, while Petter will be ninth.