Østberg in the lead after SS 4

The Norwegian Mads Østberg had an very good first half of the first leg in Rally Sweden and is in the overall lead 24,8 seconds ahead of Mikko Hirvonen with Petter Solberg (picture) in third (45,6 seconds behind). The reigning World Champion Sebastien Loeb had an hard opening day first on the road on the snowy road.
–  Difficult to be first car on the road. First section of the SS was ok but the last kilometres were not good for me. Focus must be to keep the car on the road, Loeb said after SS 2.

P-G Andersson was devestated after a flat tire on SS 4, losing almost four minutes. Patrik Sandell, private entry in a Super 2000 class, made a good start to the rally, make it into the top five  1:20, 0 behind.