After a dramatic opening day of competition in the Rally de Portugal, BP Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen has the advantage at the head of the leaderboard.

Dani Sordo (Citroën Total) holds second with his team-mate and reigning World Champion Sébastien Loeb third. Former double World Champion Marcus Grönholm (Subaru Impreza), who is making what is currently a one-off comeback to the WRC after more than a year in retirement, was second until dropping to fourth in the final stage of the day.

The fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship is the first full gravel event of the season and is a classic on the calendar. This year it is once again based near Faro and the stages are a blend of fast open roads with technical sections. The event started last night with a super special stage in the Algarve Stadium, where Henning Solberg (Stobart Ford) set fastest time around the 2.21 kilometre track in front of nearly 30,000 spectators. This morning, crews faced a further six stages on the gravel roads in the hills above the town of Faro.

Jari-Matti Latvala took the lead on the first stage of the morning and another fastest time in the following stage saw the Finn lead by 10.6 seconds. However, he then rolled heavily in stage 4, destroying his Focus and any hopes of putting his Championship challenge back on track. 

With no fewer than four different leaders throughout the day, Hirvonen has steadily climbed the leaderboard and enjoyed a trouble-free day. Behind him, Sordo lost time and the lead of the rally in stage five when he overshot a junction. Loeb did exactly the same thing in the first stage this morning, losing him nearly 26 seconds and dropping him to seventh position. Since then, Loeb has climbed to third but is still 18 seconds adrift of the lead. Petter Solberg holds fifth in his privately run Citroën Xsara with 2008 Junior World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier (Citroën Junior Team) sixth. 

Rally de Portugal - Results after Day 1

1 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen          Ford Focus RS WRC          1 hr 24 min 12.6sec
2 Dani Sordo/Marc Marti Citroën           C4 WRC                             1 hr 24 min 27.6sec
3 Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena             Citroën C4 WRC                  1 hr 24 min 30.6sec
4 Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen     Subaru Impreza WRC          1 hr 24 min 36.5sec
5 Petter Solberg/Phil Mills Citroën         Xsara WRC                         1 hr 24 min 54.8sec
6 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia        Citroën C4 WRC                   1 hr 25 min 16.6sec
7 Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin             Ford Focus RS WRC            1 hr 25 min 27.2sec
8 Evgeny Novikov/Dale Moscatt            Citroën C4 WRC                   1 hr 25 min 46.3sec