Further down the order, after Sordo in third, Andreas Mikkelsen lies fourth after an impressive start in his privately entered Skoda Fabia WRC.

Petter Solberg, who led after the short super special on Thursday night, rounds out the top five, with Sebastien Ogier next up and sixth.

Stobart Ford duo Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson complete the provisional points' scorers at this stage, followed by Citroen Junior Team men Evgeny Novikov and Conrad Rautenbach.

Novikov had been running strongly and in fourth, but the Russian dropped back in SS4 after going off the road near the end. He later retired from the leg, promoting Rautenbach to P9 and 1997 European Rally champion and local hero, Krzysztof Holowczyc to tenth.

“This morning went well for us and we had a good start. It was fantastic to see lots of fans cheering for us,” said Holowczyc, who is making a guest appearance under the Stobart Ford banner. “Some of the stages are packed with spectators, especially on the exciting sections with the jumps.

“We had a spin on the third stage and stalled the car. It took us a while to restart the engine as we were on a hill but apart from that the morning has been very good. I don't think that the stages this afternoon will be as rutted as we had been expecting so I am looking forward to it.”

“The stages are nice, fast and fun to drive, but I'm not happy with the car at the moment. It is difficult to find a good set-up,” added his team-mate, Henning.

“I tried a few things on the shakedown but I couldn't get it the way I wanted and it will take some time today to get settled in. The conditions are getting rutted and worse after every car now and I'm finding it quite difficult to get a good feeling.”

Of the rest Mads Ostberg is just outside the top ten in eleventh, while Michal Bebenek is 12th and Maciej Oleksowicz 13th. Bebenek leads the Group N category from Oleksowicz by 22.5 seconds.

In the Junior World Rally Championship, Kevin Abbring is on top in his Renault Clio, 2.5 seconds up on Michal Kosciuszko's Suzuki Swift. Martin Prokop rounds out the JWRC top-three, 11.6 seconds further adrift, with Yoaan Bonato fourth and Luca Griotti fifth.