Sebastian Loeb took the early lead of the 2012 Rally Finland at the end of day one after after stretching his advantage by 7.3 seconds during the third and final special stage.
Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala and Loeb’s Citroen teammate Mikko Hirvonen share second position at the moment, with the former being frustrated with his form so far.
Mads Ostberg enjoyed a brilliant start to the Rally as he’s now in 4th place, just 0.2 seconds behind Latvala and Hirvonen, with rookie Frenchman Thierry Neuville a further 1.5 seconds adrift in 5th.
Despite a quick start which put him in a provisional 2nd place, Petter Solberg dropped back to sixth overall after a slow final stage.
Leading positions after SS3: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 15m07.1s 2. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 7.3s 3. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 7.3s 4. Mads Ostberg Adapta Ford + 7.5s 5. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior + 9.0s 6. Petter Solberg Ford + 9.2s 7. Chris Atkinson Qatar Citroen + 15.6s 8. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford + 18.2s 9. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford + 21.1s 10. Jari Ketomaa Autotek Ford + 33.1s