Latvala and Hirvonen change the leader position during the afternoon session of day 1. After stage 8 Latvala lead with 2.6 seconds ahead Mikko Hirvonen.
Engine problems in stage 8 for Daniel Sordo cause him serious delay and losing any chances for podium. The bonnet of the car of Sordo is open and there is some fluid under the car. It is not sure whether he is able to restart the rally at all.
Sebastien Loeb slid into a snowbank and had to wait for spectators to push him back onto the road in stage 7. He lost almost two minutes in stage 7. His Citroen is undamaged.
Results after SS 8:
1. J. Latvala 1:12:17.9
2. M. Hirvonen +2.6
3. M. Ostberg +26.5
4. P.Solberg +27.4
5. E. Novikov +41.7
6. H. Solberg +1:40.0
7. P. Sandell +1:48.7
8. S. Loeb +2:06.6
Drivers comments:
M. Hirvonen: "That was not the best one. I did some changes to the car and it was not as good as before, so I took it a little bit steady.
Jari-Matti will be in front of me a little bit now, but it's okay, there's still a long way to go."
S. Loeb: "I didn't have any reason to take big risks. We lost too much in the stage before.
We had a good rhythm. We'll try to catch the drivers in front, but the task is now very big. It's not maximum attack."