Solberg and Subaru third in Turkey

Petter Solberg's Pirelli-equipped Subaru Impreza WRC2004 has finished the first day of the Rally of Turkey in third place, with just a short spectator superspecial of 2.5 kilometres remaining before the end of the leg. His young team mate Mikko Hirvonen has ended the day in seventh. Solberg used Pirelli's KP2 tyres for the four damp stages in the morning and XR3 rubber for the remainder of the day. Conditions today were to a large extent influenced by the heavy rain that had fallen over the last couple of days, making surfaces extremely muddy and slippery. But the rough and rocky stages gradually dried out during the day as temperatures became increasingly warmer. Pirelli's rally manager Fiorenzo Brivio commented: "We've come across weather conditions that are most unusual for this time of year in Turkey, with thick and heavy mud on the road surfaces this morning. Our KP tyres have allowed Petter to keep in touch with the rally leader, despite losing more than 30 seconds with a problem after a water splash at the beginning of the fourth stage." Solberg commented: "Pirelli's KP tyres, which I used to win in New Zealand, gave me a really good feeling in the difficult conditions of this morning. Despite my problem on SS4, we're in a good position to continue to attack tomorrow." RALLY OF TURKEY - Classification after SS6 1 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsara WRC 1h54m58.3 2 Gronholm-Rautiainen Peugeot 307 WRC +6.5 3 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impreza WRC +57.9 4 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsara WRC +1m03.6 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus WRC +1m08.3 6 Rovanpera-Pietilainen Peugeot 307 WRC +1m37.8 7 Hirvonen-Lehtinen Subaru Impreza WRC +2m40.2 8 Tuohino-Aho Ford Focus WRC +3m46.6 9 H.Solberg-Menkerud Peugeot 206 WRC +4m42.6 10 Yazici-Okan Ford Focus WRC +6m55.2 LEG 2: Saturday 26 June, 6 stages FINISH: Sunday 27 June 14.31 (17 stages in total)