Round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) got underway yesterday in the historic centre of St Petersburg against the dramatic backdrop of the St Isaac cathedral, the roof of which is covered by more than 100 kilograms of pure gold. Series leader Andrea Navarra led the 42 IRC entries off the start ramp in his Grande Punto Abarth, watched by an enthusiastic international crowd of spectators, journalists and photographers.

It was not only a spectacular but also an historic event, as it marked the debut of the first truly international motor sport event in Russia for 93 years. After the well-attended start ceremony, all the crews made their way back to the service park in Vyborg, 150 kilometres from St Petersburg, in preparation for the beginning of the real action – scheduled to start at 0923 this morning. The established IRC experts would face a tough task as they went head-to-head against some of the renowned local specialists who know these tricky and fast roads very well. The crews were set to get a tough wake-up call today with the first of seven fast and flowing gravel stages that would be run as leg one. Four stages were run consecutively this morning before the midday service halt, and then the crews were to go on to tackle a final loop of three stages in the afternoon. The total competitive distance for leg 1 is 104 kilometres, with conditions expected to remain dry throughout the day. The stages are extremely varied in character, with some extremely fast sections interspersed with slower and more technical pieces of road.

The real action got underway as scheduled this morning and it was Abarth driver Anton Alen who took over the overall lead of the rally with a super-fast time through SS2. The Finn currently had a slender lead over Peugeot driver Nicolas Vouilloz, but the top five positions were all extremely close.

Alen started the rally promising a "maximum attack" worthy of his famous father Markku - and it seemed to be working well as the morning wore on. The 23 year-old was slightly concerned about running third on the road so opted to take two spare tyres, and used soft rubber with cuts to disperse the loose gravel on roads which are not quite as similar to those of their native Finland as the crew first thought. Co-driver Timo Alanne explained: "The surfaces are a bit softer and it is not constantly as quick all the time. You really have to concentrate but we like these stages."

After four stages Alen held his lead in the IRC classification and he had a two-second lead over surprise newcomer Jimmy Joge in a Peugeot, with Nicolas Vouilloz in third. Alen was not entirely happy with his driving on the stages though. "The pace notes were really bad - there was no real rhythm to them," he said. "I know that we can be much quicker than we are at the moment, so to be in the lead is good."

Joge was also surprised. "Things are definitely going better than we expected," said the Peugeot driver. "The roads here are slightly similar to what we have back home in Sweden, but the surface in Russia is definitely softer. It could cut up quite badly." The two factory Peugeots of Nicolas Vouilloz and Enrique Ojeda reported no problems in fourth and fifth respectively, apart from the difficulties of learning a brand new route. Renato Travaglia however lost time on SS3 after damaging the right-rear suspension on his Mitsubishi. The problem was fixed at service and the car was back to full health. Series leader Navarra was also struggling. "I don't know if it is just me or if it is being first on the road, but nothing is really coming together: the roads are not how I remember them from the recce." Abarth used 4x4 vehicles on the recce, which give the drivers a different perspective of the road and could have contributed to the problems both Grande Punto Abarth drivers experienced.
 

Matters improved further for Alen and the factory Abarth team in the afternoon as punctures for the factory Peugeots of Enrique Garcia Ojeda and Nicolas Vouilloz meant that Alen had built up a lead of more than minute and a half as the cars prepared to enter the final stage of the day. Stage six had seen the Peugeots fall victim to the sharp rocks that characterise some of the Russian stages. With both 207s losing time, Alen was handed an advantage of 1m34s, helped also by Jimmy Joge's exit on SS5 with broken suspension. The sixth stage was even more problematic for Travaglia. At the midday service halt the Italian's suspension had been welded up following a breakage: unfortunately the repair did not hold and Travaglia was on the sidelines for good.

With a smooth passage through the final stage Grande Punto Abarth driver Alen now takes a lead of more than a minute and a half into the final day of the all-gravel rally. The Finn led the IRC classification and then the overall leaderboard from the very beginning, and his prospects rapidly improved as his key rivals hit trouble. By contrast, Alen had no problems all day – although he said it was difficult to find confidence with his pace notes and the road conditions. Peugeot Sweden driver Jimmy Joge was impressive in the opening stages, but was forced to retire with a broken suspension wishbone on SS5, the longest of the rally at nearly 30 kilometres.

The factory Peugeots of Enrique Ojeda and Nicolas Vouilloz are second and third overnight after both suffered punctures. The other factory Grande Punto Abarth of Navarra is in an overnight fourth place despite choosing hard tyres for this afternoon’s loop of three stages, which were badly-suited to the damp conditions. One of the best performances of the day was from Dani Sola, who held an excellent sixth overall in the Honda Civic Type R ¬- but all his good work was undone when a driveshaft broke on the final stage of the day, costing several minutes. His team mate Luca Betti retired on the fourth stage after breaking an oil sump following a heavy landing. Rounding out the top 10 this evening in Vyborg was Citroen driver Simon Jean-Joseph in the C2-R2, who is the top two-wheel drive competitor.

Alen commented: “We have a good lead now, but actually I’m not so happy with my driving. I had quite a lot of problems getting enough confidence with the car, and in the morning I felt that my pace notes were really bad. The stages have been fun to drive, but it seems very easy to pick up a puncture. Tomorrow we have a good lead, but there are still some long stages to go so I cannot relax. I have been leading a rally before and then not won, so we must be careful. Our tyre choices have been good so far though, and the car has been great as well."

The rally finishes with four special stages tomorrow, split into two loops of two, with a refuel but no service halt in between. The two stages that will run in the morning are both new, whereas the two afternoon stages are repeated from today. The action starts at 1104, and the final podium is at 1430. There will be 47 competitive kilometres tomorrow, making a total competitive distance of 151.96 competitive kilometres over the course of the rally. The route is once more extremely varied, with some fast roads but also some slower and rougher stages in the afternoon. Punctures are always a risk on this demanding itinerary, and the weather is again likely to be uncertain throughout the day.