Subaru's Petter Solberg has retired from leg 1 of the Rally Japan after he suffered mechanical problems en-route to SS6.

The Norwegian, who had an off in SS5, which damaged the front end of his Impreza WRC car, had been running in sixth place overall - 6 seconds or so off his brother, Henning, who was battling for fourth with Dani Sordo.

According to initial reports Petter suffered gear selection problems on the road section and had to stop after his car got stuck in sixth gear. It is not yet known if he will be able to re-start on Saturday under the SupeRally format.

More to follow as we get it...