The first leg of Rally Finland saw some fiercely contested battles at all levels of the competition. In the Citroen Top Driver series, drivers from across the Channel dominated the days stages, covering the 45 kilometres of timed sections at a frenetic pace. Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble lead the way, closely followed by Keith Cronin/Marshall Clark. Jussi Vainionpaa and his co-driver Mika Juntunen completed the provisional podium.
With the start time pushed back to a more reasonable late morning slot, the first leg of the Finnish grand prix featured five short stages held between Lahti, Jms and Jyvskyl. In terms of distance, it was little more than a warm-up, but it was nonetheless a significant slice of the rally, bearing in mind that every second counts in Finland.
Familiar with the Finnish roads, British driver Alastair Fisher enjoyed a near-perfect day, leading the overall standings after winning four stages out of a possible six.
We really enjoyed ourselves in the DS3 R3, which responded to all of our expectations, said a delighted Alastair. Its a great battle with Keith. We cant afford to ease offwe have to keep up the pressure!
Very close behind, Irishman Keith Cronin had every reason to be pleased with his performance. Still within striking distance of his main rival, he was less than ten seconds behind the leader after this first day.
New addition to the Citroen Top Driver, the Finn Jussi Vainionp proved to be the surprise package of the WRC3 category. After making a cautious start, he quickly got to grips with his DS3 R3 and ended the day in third place in the provisional overall standings.
Current co-leaders of the Citroen Top Driver, French drivers Quentin Gilbert and Sebastien Chardonnet held fourth and fifth positions, while Simone Campedelli rounded off the top six. With less than ten seconds between them, the three men will be giving their all to move up the standings in order to score as many points as possible.
Theres been some great fighting here and our drivers seem to be maturing with every race, as weve not had any retirements today. Although Stephane Consani and Christian Riedemann lost time with punctures, they are still in the race and we know that its never over until the end of the rally, admitted Marek Nawareki, Customer Racing Manager for Citroen Racing.
