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 Flying Finn Juho Hanninen has given the brand new Skoda Fabia S2000 the lead of the Monte Carlo Rally on the Czech machine's debut. The 26-year-old, who finished runner-up in last year's Production Car World Rally Championship, confirmed the excellent reliability of the Fabia seen in pre-season testing.
He made the correct tyre choices all day in mixed conditions to end the opening three stages 11.9 seconds ahead of Stephane Sarrazin in the factory Peugeot 207 S2000. Even more impressively, Hanninen is the only one of the top three not to have contested the legendary Monte Carlo Rally previously.
 Sarrazin, who is usually a star of Peugeot's Le Mans programme, enjoyed a different type of challenge throughout the day, winning the second stage of the rally (La Motte Chalancon-St Nazaire le Desert) by an impressive 13 seconds. This enabled him to climb up to second place: a position he maintained until the end of the day.
In third after the first three stages is reigning IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz, who won the opening stage near Monaco (Tourette du Chateau-St Antonin). The Peugeot Belgium driver also steered clear of problems to end up firmly in touch with the battle for the lead.
The first day of the 77th Monte Carlo Rally contained everything the epic event is famous for: mixed conditions that ranged from heavy snow to dry asphalt, and plenty of surprises. The first stage included a number of icy corners while stage two was drier and the final test of the day was run in heavy snow. This meant that drivers were forced to constantly look for the right compromise in terms of tyre choice.
Hanninen decided not to take studded tyres for any of the stages, and although this slowed him in some areas, meaning that he did not win a stage today, it was generally the best overall decision. Sarrazin opted differently; taking studs only for the last stage, while Vouilloz chose them only for stage one.
As always in these marginal conditions, plenty of drivers were caught out by a sudden lack of grip. Abarth's new signing Luca Rossetti and the 1994 World Rally Champion Didier Auriol (Peugeot) hit problems within metres of each other towards the beginning of the icy opening stage. Giandomenico Basso (Abarth) felt that his tyre choice over the course of the day was not ideal, with a couple of spins on stage one, while his Finnish team mate Anton Alen got off to an excellent start by setting fourth-fastest time on stage one with studded tyres. However, all this good work was undone by an unfortunate puncture on SS2, which cost him the chance of a top result on the opening day.
The privately-entered Abarth of World Rally Championship star Toni Gardemeister also showed promise by running third after the opening stage, but later dropped time due to transmission problems. Meanwhile, the second factory Skoda of Jan Kopecky struggled with a power steering problem but rounds off the top 10 in Valence tonight.
 With Vouilloz winning the first stage and Sarrazin claiming stage two, the final stage win went to another Peugeot: this time driven by Kris Meeke. The Irishman, making his IRC debut, quickly got to grips with his Peugeot UK-entered car and ends the day in the top six. Also worthy of note was a solid performance from Mitsubishi driver Franz Wittmann, another IRC debutant, who ends the day a creditable ninth.
The IRC 2WD Cup is currently led comfortably by Italian driver Manuel Villa, driving a Fiat Punto S1600 in 39th overall. He has more than a two-minute advantage over local man Guy Mottard, driving a Peugeot 206 RC.
IRC RESULTS AFTER SS3, RALLYE AUTOMOBILE MONTE CARLO (MONACO)
1Hanninen/Markkula Skoda Fabia S2000 56m32.8s
2 Sarrazin/Renucci Peugeot 207 S2000 +11.9s
3 Vouilloz/Klinger Peugeot 207 S2000 +33.9s
4 Ogier/Ingrassia Peugeot 207 S2000 +49.3s
5 Loix/Smets Peugeot 207 S2000 +54.6s
6 Meeke/Nagle Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m01.3s
7 Basso/Dotta Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +1m29.8s
8 Gardemeister/Tuominen Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +1m35.5s
9 Wittmann/Ettel Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 +3m31.2s
10 Kopecky/Stary Skoda Fabia S2000 +4m30.0s
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