JYVASKYLA // Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen held the edge on an exciting opening day of the Rally Finland yesterday as he built up a narrow advantage over his title rival Sebastien Loeb.
The BP Abu Dhabi Ford driver held a slender four second lead over Loeb after the ninth stage of his home rally following a day that had seen fluctuating fortunes for the duo.
Hirvonen, who leads the standings by a point, had started yesterday in third after Thursday's opening special stage, but he roared to the front as he opened up a 7.1secs gap over Petter Solberg, with Loeb down in fourth place.
But the French world champion, who is aiming for a sixth successive title, hit back with the fastest time on the next two stages to reduce Hirvonen's lead to 3.6secs, while the privateer Solberg was forced to retire his Citroen due to two punctures.
It was a repeat in the second loop of stages as Hirvonen was fastest on the first two to stretch his lead to 7.6secs, before Loeb hit back by being quickest on stages eight and nine to cut the gap to Hirvonen to four seconds.
Hirvonen who was celebrating his 29th birthday yesterday, is expecting the battle to go all the way down until tomorrow's final stage.
"So far it's going okay but Sebastien is pushing hard now," Hirvonen said. "At the moment it looks like we'll be close all the way though. Today has been OK but two of the stages are difficult for me and now Sebastien is coming up fast. I made two or three small mistakes, and it wasn't so good this afternoon, but I think I can pull away from him tomorrow. That's the plan."
In third place, 20.3secs adrift of Hirvonen, is the second Citroen of Dani Sordo, while Jari-Matti Latvala had an understated start in his BP Abu Dhabi Ford car, a further 9.2secs back.
Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi had a solid start as he finished the day 12th and he is looking to find more speed in the slower corners.
"I am happy because I started off the pace a little, but we have lifted our speed during the day," the Emirati driver said. "We have been fast on the big jumps and the high speed corners, but in the medium low-speed corners we are losing a little time and that is something I want to learn from and improve."
The Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen made an impressive debut in the World Rally Championship in his Fiat, performing well as he completed stage nine in 17th place overall.
One more stage of day one was scheduled to be held last night, with nine more today, and the final four being held on Sunday.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
You Were Never Really Here
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
Four stars
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
A QUIET PLACE
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Rating: 4/5
INDIA'S TOP INFLUENCERS
Bhuvan Bam
Instagram followers: 16.1 million
Bhuvan Bam is a 29-year-old comedian and actor from Delhi, who started out with YouTube channel, “BB Ki Vines” in 2015, which propelled the social media star into the limelight and made him sought-after among brands.
Kusha Kapila
Instagram followers: 3.1 million
Kusha Kapila is a fashion editor and actress, who has collaborated with brands including Google. She focuses on sharing light-hearted content and insights into her life as a rising celebrity.
Diipa Khosla
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Diipa Khosla started out as a social media manager before branching out to become one of India's biggest fashion influencers, with collaborations including MAC Cosmetics.
Komal Pandey
Instagram followers: 1.8 million
Komal Pandey is a fashion influencer who has partnered with more than 100 brands, including Olay and smartphone brand Vivo India.
Nikhil Sharma
Instagram followers: 1.4 million
Nikhil Sharma from Mumbai began his online career through vlogs about his motorcycle trips. He has become a lifestyle influencer and has created his own clothing line.
Source: Hireinfluence, various
Specs: 2024 McLaren Artura Spider
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 and electric motor
Max power: 700hp at 7,500rpm
Max torque: 720Nm at 2,250rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
0-100km/h: 3.0sec
Top speed: 330kph
Price: From Dh1.14 million ($311,000)
On sale: Now
Plan to boost public schools
A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
We Weren’t Supposed to Survive But We Did
We weren’t supposed to survive but we did.
We weren’t supposed to remember but we did.
We weren’t supposed to write but we did.
We weren’t supposed to fight but we did.
We weren’t supposed to organise but we did.
We weren’t supposed to rap but we did.
We weren’t supposed to find allies but we did.
We weren’t supposed to grow communities but we did.
We weren’t supposed to return but WE ARE.
Amira Sakalla
THE HOLDOVERS
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
Rating: 4.5/5
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