At the end of the opening day of competition in Wales Rally GB, BP-Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen leads the field.

The Finn has been blisteringly quick all day and heads team-mate Marcus Grönholm and reigning World Champion Sébastien Loeb, both of whom are fighting for the world title.

The final round of the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship is notorious for its winter weather and today certainly delivered conditions that are so typical of one of the longest standing events in the series.

Thick fog, driving rain, high winds and muddy roads in the Welsh forests provided some of the most challenging conditions of the year.

Mikko Hirvonen led from the outset and the Finn was quickest in the first three stages to pull out a 21.4 second advantage by the mid-leg service in Swansea.

This afternoon, he won two of the three repeated stages and takes a useful 39.6 second lead into tomorrow’s second day of competition.

Behind him, team-mate Grönholm - who must win the rally to stand any chance of taking the Championship title - has taken no risks but is still in a battle with Loeb, the series rivals split by just 18.3 seconds after 140 kilometres of competition.

Subaru’s Petter Solberg started the day badly with a spin that cost him nearly 20 seconds in the first stage.

He has however recovered from sixth position to hold fourth overnight. Citroën’s Daniel Sordo is a further minute adrift and Britain’s Matthew Wilson (Ford Focus) rounds off the top six.

Leading retirements from the leg include Henning Solberg and Jari-Matti Latvala, both of whom were forced out with visibility problems.

Solberg’s windscreen ventilation failed, causing a fogged up screen, while Latvala lost use of the wipers. Suzuki World Rally Team driver Sebastian Lindholm was also on the sidelines with brake problems this morning.

Wales Rally GB - Results after Leg 1

1 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 17 min 21.3sec
2 Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 18 min 00.9sec
3 Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 18 min 19.2sec
4 Petter Solberg/Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC 1 hr 18 min 55.3sec
5 Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 19 min 59.2sec
6 Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 22 min 22.6sec
7 Chris Atkinson/Stéphane Prévot Subaru Impreza WRC 1 hr 22 min 23.6sec
8 Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor Citroën Xsara WRC 1 hr 22 min 59.2sec