Laajavuori 1 opens the 60th Jubilee Event of Neste Oil Rally Finland. A large crowd of spectators is enjoying the stage in a very hot weather: the temperature is 34 degrees Celsius. The road has been watered to keep the dust down.

Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson
Set the fastest time on the opening stage. Co-driver Chris Patterson : This is OK. It´s a good start."

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
Had a big smile on his face . " I´m feeling very good; I´m just waiting for tomorrow morning."

Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor
"I have to push hard everywhere in this rally. I learned the car on this stage. I first drove it in Portugal."

Mads Östberg/ Jonas Andersson
The front brakes on the car were on fire and some flames were visible.

Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin
"We had a really good shakedown this morning and I´m really looking forward to this rally. On the tarmac part of the stage I made a few mistakes but otherwise it was good."

Jari Ketomaa/Mika Stenberg
"The stakes are high. The start went according to our plan. I took some risks with my lines. We´ll continue in the same way tomorrow."

Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula
"It was better than in the shakedown. We are heading in the right direction." The crowd was cheering wildly as Hänninen set a very impressive time at that point.

Nasser Al-Attiyah/Giovanni Bernacchini
"This is my first time in Finland. I´ve got high expectations but I don´t have much experience in such tough gravel roads."

Matti Rantanen/Mikko Lukka
Rantanen is showcasing his performance in Super 2000 for the first time. "We had good tests before this rally. I went a bit wide in one corner."

Toni Gardemeister/Tapio Suominen
"I missed a gear."

Jukka Ketomäki/Kai Risberg
"The engine got too much air instead of fuel on the uphill after the start."

Jarkko Nikara/Petri Nikara
"I´m not happy. I made lots of small mistakes. We´ve got a new car here."

Patrik Flodin/Göran Bergström
"I lost the time in the last corner of the stage. I slowed down as I thought I saw the finish line but it wasn´t..."

Peter Horsey/Calvin Cooledge
"I had a bank on the first jump but after that no problems. There are lots of spectators on the stage."

Michel Jourdain/Oscar Sanchez
"The first half didn´t feel so good but the second half was better."

Nicholai Georgiu/Matar Joseph
The intercom volume was too low and the driver had to ask to repeat the notes.

Paulo Nobre/Eduardo Paula
"My god! I had dreamed of coming to this rally for a long time. It´s just incredible. Finland is fantastic!"

Alex Raschi/Rudy Pollet
"This is my first time in this rally. It´s just beautiful and fantastic stages."

Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts
"I haven´t been driving the car for months. I´m just settling in the car."

Maris Neiksans/Raivis Jansons
The engine stopped on the finishing line. "We had a small engine problem. It´s not giving full power."

Mikko Eskelinen/Arto Kapanen
The last time the co-driver was here was in 2006.

Andis Neiksans/Peteris Dzirkals
"We did not do shakedown this morning. This was our shakedown. Everything went well."

Majed Al Shamsi/Alan Harryman
The car stopped 100 m from the start.