Hanging dust clouds have proved a major hazard on the second running of the 28.70-kilometre Crinți stage of the Sibiu Rally, round eight of the all-action Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Plumes of dust created by Andreas Mikkelsen’s ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia Super 2000, which is running first on the road, have not dispersed due to the lack of a breeze, which has severely restricted the visibility for those drivers running behind.
Mikkelsen was almost 40s faster than Sepp Wiegand, in a ŠKODA Auto Deutschland Fabia, with several others including Patrik Flodin and François Delecour, experiencing even more significant time loss. Flodin was 1m03.2s slower than Mikkelsen with Delecour 1m06.6s adrift of the Norwegian.
“We had complete dust in the forest and we really see nothing, it was crazy sometimes, it’s really difficult,” said Wiegand, who actually managed to climb into second overall after the drivers ahead of him in the overall classification experienced even more delay.
Flodin, in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000, said: “It’s really impossible to drive with so much dust, I had to stop in some places. You can forget tonight’s stage, I won’t do it because it will be impossible to see where you are going.”
Peugeot 207 Super 2000 driver Delecour added: “There was so much dust that it was impossible to see. I asked to start after three minutes but they would not, it’s dangerous and crazy.”
Gergély Szabó has slipped from second to fourth after being delayed by the dust and a front-left puncture, which he picked up approximately eight kilometres from the stage finish. Michaël Burri also suffered a puncture but having only completed 10 kilometres of the run, he stopped to change the damaged wheel on his Saintéloc Racing Peugeot.
Mikkelsen, meanwhile, now leads the event by 1m56.3s. He said: “There were more rocks around so we were driving very carefully to avoid the rocks.”