Any hopes Guy Wilks had of catching Freddy Loix for the lead of the GEKO Ypres Rally appear to be over after the Briton picked up two punctures on his Peugeot UK 207 Super 2000.
Wilks began the stage 46.9s behind ŠKODA Motorsport driver Loix but hit trouble less than two kilometres from the start when he suffered a front-left deflation. He then picked up a front-right puncture later in the stage and has dropped to the lower reaches of the top 10 as a result.
“I can’t believe it,” said Wilks, who had been in a comfortable second place. “I felt something on the front left for the first one but nothing so much, with the second one I don’t know. I was just keen not to loose too much time.”
Loix now leads Peugeot France’s Bryan Bouffier in the overall standings by 1m43.9s. Pieter Tsjoen moves back into a podium spot in his privateer 207 in third place.
“The road was better than this morning but it’s the second one through the stage that will be very difficult,” said Loix.
Bernd Casier has moved ahead of Hans Weijs into fourth overall. Polish M-Sport Ford Fiesta driver Michal Solowow has climbed to sixth position.
Toni Gardemeister dropped time with a puncture in his TGS Worldwide Fabia. A slow puncture delayed Abarth Grande Punto driver Luca Rossetti, while ŠKODA UK Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen also suffered a deflation 10 kilometres from the end of the test.
Overall positions after SS10
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loix Freddy / Miclotte Fréderic | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 1h36m52.4s |
| 2 | Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +1m43.9s |
| 3 | Tsjoen Pieter / Vanneste Lara | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +2m05.8s |
| 4 | Casier Bernd / Caesemaeker Francis | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +2m50.6s |
| 5 | Weijs Hans / Degandt Bjorn | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +2m54.3s |
| 6 | Snijers Patrick / Gitsels Johan | Mini John Cooper Works S2000 | +3m25.0s |
| 7 | Sołowow Michal / Baran Maciej | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +4m03.2s |
| 8 | Kruuda Karl / Järveoja Martin | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +4m40.7s |
| 9 | Ten Brinke Bernhard / Thierie Davy | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +5m30.9s |
| 10 | Van Eldik Mark / Buysmans Robin | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +5m35.7s |
| 11 | Wilks Guy / Pugh Phil | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +6m01.2s |
| 12 | Barrable Robert / Connolly Damien | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +6m02.4s |
| 13 | Andersson Per Gunnar / Axelsson Emil | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | +6m17.0s |
| 14 | Rossetti Luca / Chiarcossi Matteo | Fiat Grande Punto S2000 | +6m24.4s |
| 15 | Gardemeister Toni / Suominen Tapio | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +6m27.8s |