Markko Märtin has taken the lead of the Swedish Rally, the Estonian Ford
driver claiming his advantage after setting fastest time in stage three. His
only woe of the day has been stalling at the start of the second stage.
Rallye Monte-Carlo victor Sébastien Loeb is however pressuring Märtin from
second while Petter Solberg has climbed to third after losing time with a
spin in the second stage. Carlos Sainz holds fourth overnight ahead of Janne
Tuohino, who has been nominated to score points for Ford in an M-Sport
prepared Focus. Marcus Gronhölm had taken the early lead in the Peugeot 307,
but the Finn lost nearly a minute with power steering failure in stage
three. He is sixth overnight with team-mate Freddy Loix 10th.

Ford

Ford BP Rallye Sport drivers Markko Märtin and Michael Park led the Swedish
Rally by almost half a minute after the opening leg of the three-day event.
Their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car was twice fastest on today's key speed
test to return to the rally base in Karlstad with a 23.3sec advantage over
Sebastien Loeb on this second round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Ford has three Focus cars in the points with Janne Tuohino and Jukka Aho
fifth and François Duval and Stéphane Prévot eighth.

Markko Martin / Michael Park: "I took care early this morning and just
needed a couple of stages to settle into the rally," said the 28-year-old
Estonian driver.  "The Focus has been reliable all day.  The only problem
was a driver one when I stalled the engine at the start of the second stage
but we didn't lose much time.  The two Granberget stages were really good
fun, in fact the whole day has been enjoyable.  This morning we were the
second car through the stage and there were no lines or ruts from other cars
so I was able to play with the car a little and choose exactly the line that
I wanted.  To be first with a lead of more than 20sec is better than I
expected."

Janne Tuihino / J Aho: "We made no mistakes although maybe we were too
sideways in places on the second stage this morning," said Tuohino.  "I
drove at maximum speed but didn't take any risks.  I call it safety speed
and everything has gone normally.  It's not a bad position to be the leading
Finn on a winter rally.  I will try to go a little faster tomorrow and brake
a little less but I must be careful because the Focus has more potential
than I know about."

Citroen

The Xsaras WRC driven by Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Carlos Sainz/Marc
Marti returned to Karlstad this evening in second and fourth places
respectively, after a leg during which all the leading drivers faced
identical road conditions.

Sebastien Loeb / Daniel Elena: "I was slightly too slow through the first
half of the first special stage, before finding the right pace. In the
second stage, I went 'slightly' too quickly into a right-handed corner, and
ended up spinning. Luckily, after going right round, the car was pointing in
the right direction. I was ready to get going right away, and this incident
only cost me a few seconds. I did not make any mistakes through the
Granberget stage, during which we used an identical set of tyres. However,
we did lose a bit of time, which I find hard to explain. Finally, we set the
best time in the super special, which is good for the motivation. We will
try to keep up the same pace tomorrow."

Carlos Sainz / Marc Marti: Having conceded more time that he had expected
during SS3, just like Sébastien, Carlos decided to opt for the Michelin GE '
ice' tyres, with 'sharp' studs, which had enabled Markko Märtin to set the
best time during the first pass through. Unfortunately, the ground had begun
to show through the ice, which did not suit the studs, less resistant than
the standard ones used by the other competitors. "I broke a lot of studs.
The further I went into the stage, the less grip I had !"

Subaru

Petter Solberg revelled in the Leg's difficult conditions and delivered an
impressive performance at the wheel of his Subaru Impreza to end the day in
third place, 26.9 seconds behind overnight leader Markko Martin. His
team-mate Mikko Hirvonen also set a string of competitive times and, despite
only have contested the event once previously, ended the day well positioned
in seventh place.

Petter Solberg / Phil Mills: "It's been an incredible day, much better that
I expected. I've never done well here before so I'm very happy. We had no
real problems today just the spin earlier, but that's just part of the game.
Since then, it's been perfect. Out on the stages there's an incredible
atmosphere - I've never seen so many Norwegian flags. The conditions suit my
driving and if it stays the same tomorrow, I'll do my best to beat Markko
and Sebastien."

Mikko Hirvonen / Jarmo Lehtinen: "It's been a perfect day, especially if you
don't count the second run through Granberget! We lost quite lot of time
there. I stalled at a junction and got stuck behind Panizzi, but overall my
confidence has risen and it feels very good. Like a lot of rallies this
year, my main priority is experience, but of course I'm still going to push
when I am able so we'll just see what's possible tomorrow."

 Peugeot

Three-time Swedish Rally winner Marcus Gronholm has promised a fight back to
the top after being deprived of the lead by a power steering problem on the
opening day. Marcus set fastest time on the first of today's five stages and
held the lead until stage three - the longest of the rally at 53 kilometres.
He ends leg one of the Swedish Rally sixth overnight, less than a minute
behind the leader. His team mate Freddy Loix ends a difficult day in 10th,
after struggling with the set-up of his 307 WRC.

Marcus Gronholm / Timo Rautiainen: "It was really hard work, but I knew I
had to keep on pushing," said Marcus. "I tried to limit the time loss as
much as possible, but we still ended up losing a minute. It makes life
difficult, but we're certainly not giving up. We still have some good
chances to do well."

Freddy Loix / Sven Smeets: "It's been a very frustrating day for me. In the
morning, I lost time on the slower corners as I didn't have a good feeling
with the back end of the car. We made some changes and I thought I was
driving well, but when I saw the times I was disappointed. We need to think
very carefully about why this is happening and try to find a solution."

 Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports has had a difficult start to the 2004
Uddeholm Swedish Rally and Gilles and Hervé Panizzi have been forced into
retirement while team-mates Kristian Sohlberg and Kaj Lindström plummeted
down the leaderboard this morning and hold 34th in the second Mitsubishi
Lancer WRC04

Gilles Panizzi / Hervé Panizzi: "We had a problem this morning with fifth
gear, so the team changed the gearbox after the second stage", commented
Gilles. "Then we had a problem with fourth in the second 'box and we put the
original one back in the car. But then two kilometers before the end of the
fourth stage we had more problems, had to stop and then the car wouldn't
re-start. Our aim was always to get to the finish so we can learn more
information about the car, so from that point of view it is a shame".

Kristian Sohlberg / Kaj Lindström: "Five kilometers before the finish of the
second stage I started to brake and the wheels just locked up", commented
Kristian. "We went off the road and got stuck in a snow bank. All in all it
has been a tough day and it taught me a lot".



Mitsubishi Motors drivers have made an excellent start to the Swedish Rally,
the opening round of the 2004 FIA Production Car World Rally Championship.
Finland's Jani Paasonen has taken complete control of the field and holds a
comfortable lead in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. In total, Mitsubishi
drivers hold seven of the top nine positions in the Group N category and of
the Production Car contenders lay first, third, eighth, ninth and tenth.



Leg two starts tomorrow at 0530hrs when crews leave Karlstad parc fermé and
travel 85km north to Hagfors for the first service of the day. The longest
of the event, Leg two includes a further eight stages and 151.94 competitive
kilometres. Based around the single service in Hagfors, Leg two includes a
second visit to the Hagfors Super Special Stage. The first test starts at
0746hrs.

-wrc-


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