Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen secured the top two places in Friday's opening day of the Rally of Sardinia. Latvala finished in 1 hour, 24 minutes, 15 seconds after six stages. Hirvonen was 39 seconds back. Citroen occupied the next three places with Sebastien Loeb third, Petter Solberg fourth and Evgeny Novikov in fifth. Despite leading, Ford was not overly happy at the end of the day after Loeb's tactics. The five-time champion slowed just before the finish to allow Hirvonen to pass to give himself the best start position for Saturday's stages, leaving the Ford pair with the worst available.
