STOCKHOLM-- Finland's Mikko Hirvonen took charge of the season-opening Sweden Rally on Friday while debutant Kimi Raikkonen lost 25 minutes after becoming stuck in a snow bank.
Ford's Hirvonen, who lost the title to six-times champion Sebastien Loeb by a point last season, won three stages in the day after his French rival had seized the first two on the ice and snow covered roads around Karlstad.
"It's been good and since the last stage this morning we've found a good rhythm," Hirvonen told www.wrc.com. "We're not too far ahead yet though so we have to try and keep this up."
Hirvonen held a 6.2-second advantage over Loeb's Citroen ahead of Saturday's penultimate day, with Dani Sordo third after winning Thursday's super-special first stage. Raikkonen, making his world rally championship debut after switching from Formula One, was more than 30 minutes behind the leader following an accident near the end of stage six.
The Finn drove his Citroen Junior team C4 into a heavy snow drift and freed himself almost half an hour later.
