Jan Kopecký’s bid to land the final podium spot on Sata Rallye Açores has been handed a boost after Bruno Magalhães reported making a mistake on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event’s 10th stage.
Magalhães, from Portugal, is now just 2.1s ahead of Kopecký with two stages of day two remaining following his moment on the 7.15-kilometre run. “I braked very late in one corner and lost a little bit of time,” said the Peugeot driver.
In the battle for first place, Andreas Mikkelsen is now 8.3s behind Juho Hänninen after clocking the fastest time through the test in his ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia. The Norwegian was 1.8s quicker than his rival.
Although chunks of the stage formed the pre-event shakedown, there were some unused sections, which were coated in loose gravel and slowed Patrik Sandell, who is running first on the road in his ŠKODA Sweden entry. Sandell is now eight seconds in front of sixth-placed Bryan Bouffier, who was third fastest through the stage.
Overall positions after SS10
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hänninen Juho / Markkula Mikko | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 52m54.9s |
| 2 | Mikkelsen Andreas / Floene Ola | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +8.3s |
| 3 | Magalhaes Bruno / Grave Paulo | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +38.5s |
| 4 | Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +40.6s |
| 5 | Sandell Patrik / Parmander Staffan | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +1m47.0s |
| 6 | Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +1m55.0s |
| 7 | Moura Ricardo / Eiró Sancho | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +2m23.1s |
| 8 | Lopes Vítor / Magalhăes Hugo | Subaru Impreza Sti | +3m34.2s |
| 9 | Pascoal Vítor / Ramalho Luis | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | +4m36.2s |
| 10 | Silva Sérgio / Cordeiro Nelson | Subaru Impreza Sti | +4m54.0s |
| 11 | Vale Pedro / Medeiros Rui | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +4m54.1s |
| 12 | Nutahara Fumio / Ichino Hakaru | Subaru Impreza R4 | +5m13.0s |
| 13 | Lousado Rui / Assunçăo Luis | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +6m18.8s |
| 14 | Maciel Paulo / Gouveira Filipe | Citroën Saxo VTS | +6m33.5s |
| 15 | Raoux Jean-Michel / Mazotti Francis | Renault Clio R3 | +7m50.9s |