With the first day of running cancelled due to transport issues, the event in Jordan started off with SS7, one which saw reigning world champion Loeb emerge as leader of the pack. Ogier did not wait long to reply however and quickly moved into a joint lead with Loeb after SS8, before further improving his pace on the 41-kilometre Jordan River stage and finishing more than 7 seconds ahead of his teammate.
Solberg started off great and enjoyed a great pace in the opening two stages of the rally, but a troublesome SS9 sent him to second overall, following a short excursion off the road.
Ford's duo Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen are 4th and 5th, respectively, in the timing reports, with the latter paying the price for being a road-opener throughout Day 1. In only 3 stages, the Finn lost no less than 51 seconds to Ogier.
Stobart Ford took the following positions at the end of SS9 through Mads Ostberg – a rookie driver in terms of Rally Jordan participations – and Matthew Wilson, while ICE1 Racing's Kimi Raikkonen rests in 8th place, losing a couple of positions following action in SS8 and SS9.
The Top 10 is completed by Barwa Ford's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Abu Dhabi Ford's Khalid Al Qassimi. The most important incident of the day was Henning Solberg's, who hit a rock this morning and damaged the engine of his Fiesta RS WRC. He will no longer resume action on Friday.
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