Sunday 8 June 2014 16:40, UK
Championship contender Jari-Matti Latvala leads the way after the opening day of the Rally Italia Sardegna.
The Finn, second in the World Rally Championship drivers' standings behind Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier but holds a lead of 22.4 seconds over the Frenchman.
Saturday will see the next four stages completed and Latvala is hoping to continue the success of Friday's efforts.
"It has been a good day," he told wrc.com. "We had brake problems on the first stage this morning but it's all gone well since then. I need to stay cool and keep the same speed tomorrow."
With Volkswagen enjoying a good start, the Hyundai duo of Thierry Neuville and Juho Hanninen both encountered issues and have fallen out of contention.
Neuville suffered suspension damage while Hanninen rolled his car on superstage five and could not continue.
Mikko Hirvonen is out of the rally completely after his M-Sport Ford Fiesta burst into flames as they looked to make a tyre change and, while Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen fought the fire, it caused too much damage and their race was over.
