Jari-Matti Latvala was gifted a large lead at the end of the opening day of the FIA World Rally Championship in Jordan after his rivals slowed their pace on the final stage.
The Finn won three of the day's seven stages to finish 30.2 seconds ahead of Citroen Junior driver Sebastien Ogier.
Reigning champion Sebastien Loeb was the closest of the big names in third place, a further 1.6 secs back, with the Frenchman enduring a frustrating day before winning a slow-paced final stage.
With Loeb lagging behind, the battle at the top of the time sheets had been between Latvala and Citroen duo Petter Solberg and Dani Sordo for most of the day.
But with Latvala ahead going into the final stage Solberg and Sordo both deliberately backed off their pace to ensure their positions down the order ahead of tomorrow's action.
Solberg finished the day in fourth place while Sordo was sixth.
Latvala's Ford team-mate and compatriot Mikko Hirvonen separated those two drivers in fifth place.
Latvala had been handed a boost midway through the day when officials revoked a 10-second penalty they had handed the Finn, as well as Solberg, after they had arrived late for the third stage.
The drivers argued that the road section timings had not made sufficient allowance for normal traffic, which the organisers agreed with.
Latvala was happy with his day's work, despite his rivals dropping back for position ahead of the longest leg of the rally tomorrow.
‘If you don't try, you don't gain anything,’ he said.
‘The idea was to go flat out. I am not sure if it is a risk being first on the road tomorrow. Let's see.’
Loeb struggled after leading off the drivers on the gravel roads and is wary of Latvala's pace.
‘It's been a tough day,’ he said. ‘But I think Latvala is actually very fast - he's only third on the road and the others behind him are not so fast.’
Hirvonen, who is six points behind Loeb in the overall standings, was content to be behind the Frenchman with 10.4 secs separating them.
‘We are behind (Loeb), hopefully that's the right thing to do,’ he said.
‘I didn't need to slow down, I just went with a steady pace and that's how the day went. You never know if it's the right decision or not.
‘But there are two days to go, so let's see what we can do.’
Rally of Jordan first leg classification.
1. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Ford 1hr 11mins 31.500secs
2. Sebastien Ogier (France) Citroen +00:30.200
3. Sebastien Loeb (France) Citroen 00:31.800
4. Petter Solberg (Norway) Citroen 00:32.500
5. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford 00:42.200
6. Daniel Sordo (Spain) Citroen 00:45.400
7. Henning Solberg (Norway) Ford 01:20.900
8. Matthew Wilson (Britain) Ford 02:01.100
9. Federico Villagra (Argentina) Ford 02:48.200
10. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Citroen 03:50.500
