Škoda Motorsport’s Jan Kopecký will start the final stage of the Prime Yalta Rally with an outside chance of snatching second place from Bryan Bouffier after going 11.7s quicker than his rival to narrow the Peugeot France driver’s margin to 20.5s.
Kopecký was 2.2s quicker than Andreas Mikkelsen with Thierry Neuville third fastest in his Peugeot.
Bouffier’s hopes of winning outright appear to be over after overall leader Juho Hänninen beat him through the stage. The gap between them has risen to 17.4s with one stage left to run.
Overall positions after SS13:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hänninen Juho / Markkula Mikko | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 2h42m17.9s |
| 2 | Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +17.4s |
| 3 | Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +37.9s |
| 4 | Mikkelsen Andreas / Floene Ola | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +1m02.4s |
| 5 | Wilks Guy / Pugh Phil | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +3m33.7s |
| 6 | Neuville Thierry / Gilsoul Nicolas | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +4m59.8s |
| 7 | Gardemeister Toni / Suominen Tapio | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +7m33.0s |
| 8 | Kruuda Karl / Järveoja Martin | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +9m36.3s |
| 9 | Sandell Patrik / Parmander Staffan | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +17m57.0s |
| 10 | Raoux Jean-Michel / Magat Laurent | Renault Clio R3 | +20m16.3s |
| 11 | Cosma Vlad / Dorca Florin | Citroën C2 R2 Max | +22m52.7s |
| 12 | Bidzinashvili Archil / Arjevanidze Georgi | Honda Civic Type R | +27m08.7s |
| 13 | Puskádi János / Godor Barna | Honda Civic Type R3 | +28m09.1s |
| 14 | Pechenyk Volodymyr / Yankovskiy Andriy | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | +28m15.1s |
| 15 | Tamrazov Oleksii / German Ivan | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +30m38.0s |