BANBURY'S Subaru World Rally Team driver Petter Solberg and Phil Mills finished a treacherous first day of the Swedish Rally in a solid fifth overall.
Team-mates Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot were early victims to the challenging conditions when a spin on the narrow routes dropped them down the leaderboard.
Recent warmer weather meant that the snow banks were not as firm and when leaning on them crews risked bursting through into the woodland beyond, and a premature end to their rally.
Team principal David Richards said: "Today was not what you might expect from a route that is normally covered in deep snow.
"It's a tough challenge for crews to adapt to and we have already seen some of the front-runners fall.
Solberg started the rally strongly, winning his opening 1.9 kilometre head-to-head battle against local hero PG Andersson around the Karlstad trotting track on Thursday night.
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