Further down the order, Alessandro Bettega came in sixth, followed by Patrik Flodin and Armindo Araujo, while Red Bull's Andreas Aigner and Stuart Jones rounded out the top ten.

All 22 PWRC runners were classified at the end of day 1, although several only managed that due to the SupeRally rules, including Gabriel Pozzo, who is the only runner that can stop Toshi Arai from taking the 2007 Production title.

Pozzo was running in sixth overall until he went out in SS5. Assuming he re-starts on Saturday, he will do so from 17th in class and more than 10 minutes off the lead. He has to take the maximum ten points this weekend though to take the PWRC crown - and that now looks pretty impossible.