BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila hold second place after a fast and furious opening morning of Rally Finland, just 1.3sec from the lead in their Focus RS World Rally Car. Initially, team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen controlled this eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship to build a good lead but they crashed heavily, escaping without serious injury.

Hirvonen, lying second after last night's short opening speed test, was fastest through both the 12.75km Urria and the 22.29km Jukojärvi special stages this morning to build a 4.9sec lead in his Focus RS WRC. However, the 29-year-old Finn crashed shortly after the midpoint during the second pass through Urria. After returning to the service park in the rally base of Jyväskylä by helicopter, both Hirvonen and Lehtinen were taken to hospital by road by the team for precautionary checks.

The accident happened at a jump immediately after a fast right bend, about 800 metres beyond a famous jump for which the stage is renowned. "The car landed on the road but started to roll," explained Hirvonen. "It rolled three or four times. It's the biggest accident I've had. I had a great feeling with the car through the first two stages today and I thought this could be a good weekend."

Latvala restarted in third after last night's stage. The 25-year-old Finn was second and fourth in the opening pass through Urria and Jukojärvi, before setting second fastest time on the repeat of both tests.

"Mikko's retirement has put more pressure on me, but I'm not changing my way of thinking," he said. "I saw his car and had to drive around it a little because it was partly in the road. I hurt my back after a jump in Urria this morning but I had some treatment from our physio before the second loop and it feels fine now. I know where I can go flat out on this rally and where I can't. I'm not at my limit most of the time but if I push harder then it means taking risks and I don't want that. It's important to trust and respect the pace notes here."

Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr lie ninth in the team's other Focus RS WRC.