Reigning world champion Petter Solberg set the pace as Rally Mexico got under way today. The Norwegian, driving a Subaru, won the 29-kilometre first stage in 16 minutes 38.7 seconds to claim an early lead of 8.7secs from two-time former champion Marcus Gronholm's Peugeot.
Citroen's Sebastien Loeb, who leads the drivers' championship after winning the first two rallies of the season, is firmly in contention again, just 14.1secs off the pace in fourth place, with Ford's Markko Martin third.
Alister McRae's chances of taking the lead in the production car championship were hit by a slow time on stage one.
The Scotsman, who is competing in the secondary championship as he bids to regain his position among the World Rally big guns, is almost a minute off class leader Toshihiro Arai. McRae, driving a Subaru, is second in the championship.