Finland's Marcus Gronholm recovered from an early off-road excursion to win all five stages on the first day of the New Zealand Rally yesterday as Italian MotoGP ace Valentino Rossi completed his first full day. Gronholm punctured a tyre on the opening stage when he clipped a pole and ploughed his Ford through a fence but regained his composure to open up a commanding 31 second lead at the end of day one. Rossi, driving a privately-entered Subaru with his familiar racing number 46 on the side (see picture), kept a lid on his natural aggressive instincts to survive the first day in 24th place, nearly 11 minutes behind the leader.

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