Raikkonen's event actually started with the opening 2.06 km Superspecial stage in Jyvaskyla last night where the national hero had the huge and enthusiastic crowd on their feet and going wild as he went head to head with another competitor and saw off the challenge to come first across the line.

Kimi Raikkonen has made highly impressive start to his debut on the world rally stage on the Neste Oil Rally Finland, and after this morning’s opening five stages he is lying sixth in Group N, posting times respectably close to the experienced Anton Alén, who is also competing in his home rally at the wheel of a Grande Punto Abarth. The Ferrari F1 driver's biggest problem today has been getting used to using pace notes on the event, which is also his gravel surface debut.

Raikkonen's event actually started with the opening 2.06 km Superspecial stage in Jyvaskylay last night where the national hero had the huge and enthusiastic crowd on their feet and going wild as he went head to head with another competitor and saw off the challenge to come first across the line.

With the first five stages completed this morning, Raikkonen brought his privately-owned car, which is run by former WRC champion Tomi Mäkinen's rally team, back to the Service Park in 19th place overall at lunchtime. His time through the most recent stage, SS5, was just 1.2 seconds slower than that posted by rising Finnish star Alén in an almost identical car, although the latter has the benefit of a factory-prepared car. The leader in Group N after the frenetic first morning of action is factory Skoda driver Mika Hanninen who is at the wheel of the new Fabia S2000 he more usually seen piloting in the IRC. Alén is second in Group N, and one place behind in fifteenth overall, while sandwiched between the two Abarths are Janno Tuohino (Peugeot 207 S2000) and the Subaru Imprezas of Patrik Flodin and Ott Tanak.

Raikkonen's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom said the Ferrari star's driving was getting better and better with every stage. "This one was perfect," Lindstrom said after SS5. "He started the day a little bit rusty but he was there on SS3 and was going even better on Mokkipera until we missed a junction. This last one was perfect. I think we're going to be fine."

Raikkonen's biggest problem is the notes he has to rely on to guide him through the stages and his lack of experience at pre-rally reconnaissance. Sebastien Loeb, who lies in second place in the rally after the first five stages at the wheel of a factory Citroën C4 WRC, commented on the difficulty that Raikkonen faces this weekend. "What is most difficult is to take some notes and be confident in the notes after only two passes [through the stage],” he said.  “For this you need experience. I'm sure he will have a lot of fun sliding at high speed in the forest. It will be completely different from what he's used to."

The Finnish F1 driver, who has competed in three minor rallies already this year, also acknowledged that his lack of pace note experience was an issue.  "It's definitely the most important thing in the rally," Raikkonen said this morning. "Without them there is no way you can go fast. It's something completely different. Everybody can drive, okay not everybody, but everybody can be more or less the same speed, but notes make the difference." Raikkonen added that getting rally experience would help him overcome this issue. "It takes time to learn, sometimes you get it wrong. It's not easy to know where to go, where to jump, will you land on the road. Hopefully, we have the right notes. I take it as a learning experience."