Mikko Hirvonen rolls car, exits Rally Finland

Early leader Mikko Hirvonen made a dramatic exit from the first leg of the Rally of Finland on Friday when he rolled his Ford in a heavy crash on the fourth stage.

The Finn and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen escaped injury, with the car rolling several times on a right-hand corner that the driver had previously described as one of his favourites.

Hirvonen, third in the championship behind the Citroen pairing of Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, won his home rally last year.

Norway's Petter Solberg, fastest on the opening stage, took over the lead in a privately-entered Citroen with Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala second for Ford and 1.3 seconds adrift after five stages.

Six-times world champion Loeb was in sixth place after damaging his car's front bumper in stage three.

"The car is undriveable. Every corner I try to steer, the car is going straight. I have to turn in on the brakes. The car is impossible to drive. I was surprised that the car was like that. Incredible, it's missing all the (aero) effects," Loeb told the autosport.com website.

- Reuters