Jani Paasonen and Arto Kapanen hold a fine fourth overall for Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart after the opening leg of competition in the 2002 Swedish Rally. Regular drivers Alister McRae/David Senior are in 11th position - having dropped from an earlier seventh - while team-mates François Delecour/Daniel Grataloup have slipped right down the order after going off in the final stage.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart J. Paasonen / A. Kapanen

Mitsubishi Motors drivers have instantly demonstrated their superiority in the Group N production car category by claiming the top six places in this, the first round of the FIA Production Car World Championship. Local hero Stig-Olov Walfridson has forced his Mitsubishi Carisma GT into the lead, but he is under pressure from fellow Swede Daniel Carlsson and Finland’s Juha Kangas.

Seventy-five crews started the event last night, the ceremonial start in Karlstad Square floodlit for the enjoyment of the hundreds of rally fans that turned out in sub-zero temperatures. The action began this morning however as the crews headed 80 kilometres north to the town of Hagfors, base for today’s five stages and 124 competitive kilometres. Overnight rain and milder temperatures around zero degrees caused some concern for the teams, however a hard base of ice and a covering of fresh snow in the stages this morning was a welcome sight for many. Quite rarely, a protected family of wolves had also taken up residence in Granberget (SS3) and, while this was the stage where no fewer than three of the leading crews got stuck in snowbanks or went off the road (Loeb, Burns and Rådström), doubtless they were all wary of leaving their cars..!

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart J. Paasonen / A. Kapanen

Jani Paasonen and Arto Kapanen, former Group N winners for Mitsubishi in Sweden, have made a fine start in their debut outing with Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart. The Finns lie fourth overall ahead of no fewer than five former World Champions, despite taking no unnecessary risks and primarily being focused on finishing the rally. Paasonen held third for more than half of the stages, but was overhauled by Colin McRae this afternoon, the Ford driver only a mere 12 seconds ahead of the Finn.

"In the last two stages it was snowing and we could only use the bumper lights because with the main bonnet-mounted lamps the light was reflecting back off the snow and into my eyes", said Jani. "Apart from that we’ve had no problems all day, the car is very easy to drive and I’m really enjoying it. Being fourth is a good running position for tomorrow and I am really pleased with everything at the moment".

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart A. McRae / D. Senior

Competition at the head of the leaderboard is fierce and, while Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC team-mates Alister McRae and David Senior lie 11th, they are in fact only 40 seconds behind former World Champion Colin McRae in third. The Britons were running as high as seventh before Granberget - the longest stage of the rally - but tyre choice hindered their charge in the final two stages.

"We took a different tyre this afternoon which wasn’t as good as we thought and it cost us time and lost us a couple positions", said Alister. "The first three stages were good, but it’s obviously disappointing to have lost time, especially when everything’s so close. Sixth on the road tomorrow is not the best place to be, but unless it snows overnight we shouldn’t be at too much of a disadvantage in the first long stage because it’s a repetition of today’s. Tomorrow the aim is to get back some of that time and move up into a points-scoring position".

The French crew of François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup have slid right to the bottom of the leaderboard after losing 19 minutes stuck in the final stage. "I made a mistake", said François. "I was on the wrong line coming into a left-hander and the car slid wide through a snowbank and into a ditch. The problem was that it was after a fast crest so none of the following crews could see us and we had to keep moving out of the way every time a car went past. There were also only five spectators there, so we had to dig the bank out of the way before pushing the car back onto the road".

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart F. Delecour / D. Grataloup

Group N contender Stig-Olov Walfridsson is very definitely a local, born and bred in the heart of Swedish Rally territory at Torsby and he set a hot pace from the outset in his Carisma GT. "It’s nice to start the rally like this, but there’s a long way to go and plenty of good drivers not far behind. We’ll have to keep going at this pace if we want to win", Walfridson said.

His nearest rival is fellow countryman Daniel Carlsson, who is also driving a Carisma GT. "I don’t have so much experience in this car, but it’s nice to drive and it has been working well for us so far", Carlsson commented.

Third in the category belongs to Juha Kangas, who is driving his third different car type of rally car in as many weeks, with Swede Kenneth Bäcklund close behind in his Carisma.

In the FIA Production Car World Championship, drivers must register for the first time this year and Kristian Sohlberg, who has signed up for the series, is pacing himself in his Carisma GT, well aware that he doesn’t need to beat Walfridson to score maximum points. He is just ahead of another Swedish Carisma GT driver, Oscar Svedlund, while five of the top six Championship contenders are Mitsubishi drivers. Italian Alex Fiorio, contesting his first Swedish since 1988 is third, hotly pursued by Finn Marko Ipatti in fourth, with Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles and Britain’s Martin Rowe, who is taking part in his first ever rally on snow, fifth and sixth respectively.

Meanwhile…

Peugeot drivers Marcus Grönholm and Harri Rovanperä have dominated the day, the duo trading the top slot until the 2000 World Champion took the overnight honours by a staggering 0.9 seconds. Team-mate Richard Burns is down in 13th position after going off the road earlier in the day. Colin McRae (Ford) inched into third position in the final two stages, nudging Jani Paasonen (Mitsubishi) into fourth. Hyundai’s Freddy Loix has set a blistering pace, despite recovering from a broken ankle, and powered from 19th to fifth in just one stage. The leaderboard is however very tight, Petter Solberg (Subaru) holding sixth just one second adrift of Loix and with only seven seconds in hand to a chasing Juha Kankkunen (Hyundai). Carlos Sainz (Ford) has simply been unable to match his rivals’ times and holds eighth, albeit within striking distance. Citroën has probably fared the worst of the manufacturer teams today, Sébastien Loeb and Thomas Rådström losing time off the road and consequently holding 29th and 47th positions respectively. The only leading retirement of the day was Tommi Mäkinen, winner of Rallye Monte-Carlo. The Finn hit a snowbank filling the front end of the Subaru with snow and blocking the cooling system.

Still to come…

The second leg of the Swedish Rally starts on Saturday at 06:00 hrs (local) and takes the remaining contenders over six stages and 129 competitive kilometres, again to the north of Karlstad.