Kris Meeke out front in Rally Finland

Kris Meeke has made the most of his road position to lead the famous Rally Finland at the completion of the first full day of competition.

Meek and Citroen, who are only competing part time this year as they focus attention on the new specification car in 2017, had a clean run throughout the day to head the time sheets with an 18.1 second lead over two-time defending Rally Finland winner Jari-Matti Latvala in a Volkswagen Polo.

It was a far tougher day for world champion Sebastien Ogier who dropped 16 minutes when he slid into a ditch with three stages left in the day.

Back in the WRC for the first time since Portugal in May, Meeke won the day’s opening test and took full advantage of his low starting position on the road as the stages dried throughout the morning. After winning two stages in the morning loop he added another pair in the afternoon.

“I tried to manage the car this afternoon but you need so much commitment on these roads to be fast,” said Meeke.

“We were able to hold the gap but tomorrow could be a different story on the big stages, which we drive in the opposite direction to normal.

“I’ve not had this type of control in years gone by, but it’s coming now,” said Meeke.

Latvala would have been closer but for a mistake in the morning which saw him run wide on a downhill bend and hit a bank. The impact punctured his Polo R’s rear left tyre and he limped to the finish losing 15sec.

Thierry Neuville, Andreas Mikkelsen and Craig Breen traded places all day in what turned out to be a fight for third after Ogier’s error. Mikkelsen held the initiative until a visit to a ditch in the penultimate stage allowed Neuville ahead.

The Belgian struggled with the handling of his Hyundai i20 on the loose roads early on but ended 1.1sec ahead of Mikkelsen’s Polo R.

Breen was fifth in another DS 3, despite overshooting a junction, with Kiwi Hayden Paddon sixth after similar set-up problems to team-mate Neuville.

“It’s been a disappointing day but if you take the top two drivers out of the equation, we are not too far off,” said Paddon.

“The morning was difficult. We tried to enjoy it a bit more in the afternoon but it’s hard when the times are not as we’d like them to be. Still, we will come back fighting tomorrow and aim to make up some positions.”

Mads Ostberg was seventh in a Ford Fiesta RS ahead of the similar car of Ott Tanak. Tanak was just 0.7sec behind Meeke until his steering broke after a heavy landing and he plunged to 10th.

He fought back to seventh before a puncture cost more time. The Estonian’s consolation came with three stage wins.

Eric Camilli was ninth with WRC 2 leader Esapekka Lappi completing the top 10.

Australia’s Scott Pedder sits 12th in a highly competitive WRC2 field and is 25th overall. Pedder had an early setback when a low speed spin on the first stage of the day saw him drop just under three minutes.

After that he was setting times within the top five of the WRC2 runners.

“Our pace was about where we expected to be before the rally started, about fifth or sixth, behind the factory guys,”said Pedder.

“The roads today were rough by Finnish standards, tomorrow we’re onto the ultra smooth and fast stuff, so there is very much the potential for the guys ahead of us to hit problems very easily. With Ouninpohja first up in the morning it’s going to be a big wake up call.”

Saturday is the longest of the weekend with 150.48km of action.

Drivers tackle two identical loops of four stages south-west of Jyvaskyla. Each loop begins with the massive jumps of the 33km Ouninpohja, regarded as one of the greatest stages in the WRC.

VIDEO: Morning stages

VIDEO: Afternoon Stages