"We collected a puncture on the left-rear tyre which was there for the rest of the stage and I hurt my right shoulder in the impact. It was bad. Otherwise, the car has been good. It's a fantastic fight between myself and P-G and the best thing is that we're both in the top ten!"

Of the rest Britain's Matthew Wilson is on the fringes of the top ten in his Stobart Ford Focus, albeit 40 seconds off Gardemeister, while Conrad Rautenbach and Munchi's Ford WRT duo Luis-Perez Companc and Federico Villagra are 12th, 13th and 14th respectively.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi 'third' driver Khalid Al Qassimi completes the top 15, with P-WRC leader Juha Salo 16th. Salo is 8.7 seconds up on his closest class challenger, Juho Hanninen, with Patrik Flodin then third, 28 seconds further back.

In the J-WRC Michal Kosciuszko is top and currently on course for the maximum 'Junior' points, 4.9 seconds up on Martin Prokop.

As for the retirees the biggest casualty was Jari-Matti Latvala and the young Finn went out early on when he went off the road in SS3 after damaging his front suspension. Latvala will re-start under the SupeRally on Saturday to gain more experience of the tests.

Latvala wasn't the only World Rally Car driver to retire on day 1 however, as Mads Ostberg also went out when he made a mistake in his Adapta-run Subaru Impreza WRC in SS6, while the final loop claimed Citroen privateer Urmo Aava and Ramsport Ford runner Andreas Mikkelsen. It is not yet known if any of these drivers' will be able to re-start.

The Rally Finland now continues on Saturday and day two offers one of the most eagerly awaited challenges of the season. Drivers face 10 more stages covering 168.25km, almost half the distance of the entire rally. The route heads south-west towards Jämsä and includes some of the event's legendary sections of road, as well as some new, and narrower, stages. Drivers restart at 06.00 and return for the final overnight halt at 20.36 [all times local].