The battle for victory on Rallye Sanremo is shaping up to be a thrilling four-way fight following the event’s ninth stage, which ended with the leading quartet of drivers separated by 10.0s.
Thierry Neuville was again fastest in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207 Super 2000 to move to within 4.9s of overall leader Andreas Mikkelsen. The ŠKODA UK Motorsport driver was 7.7s slower through the stage. His advantage over second-placed BFO-ŠKODA’s Freddy Loix is now down to 1.3s with one stage of the morning loop remaining.
Bryan Bouffier, in a Peugeot France 207 (pictured), completed the 18.80-kilometre Passo Teglia test 1.1s slower than Neuville as he steps up his bid to claim his second victory in this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The Rallye Monte-Carlo winner is fourth overall, 10.0s behind Mikkelsen.
Overall positions after SS9
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikkelsen Andreas / Floene Ola | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 1h45m29.9s |
| 2 | Loix Freddy / Miclotte F. | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +1.3s |
| 3 | Neuville T. / Gilsoul Nicolas | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +4.9s |
| 4 | Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +10.0s |
| 5 | Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +33.2s |
| 6 | Magalhães Bruno / Grave Paulo | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +57.6s |
| 7 | Scandola Umberto / D’Amore Guido | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +57.9s |
| 8 | Perico Alessandro / Carrara Fabrizio | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +2m56.6s |
| 9 | Campana Pierre / De Castelli Sabrina | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +3m21.1s |
| 10 | Gardemeister Toni / Suominen Tapio | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +4m23.4s |
| 11 | Basso Giandomenico / Dotta Mitia | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | +5m38.8s |
| 12 | Hotz Grégoire / Ravasi Pietro | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +5m56.5s |
| 13 | Medici Davide / De Luis Daniele | Renault Clio S1600 | +6m22.1s |
| 14 | Albertini Stefano / Scattolin Simone | Renault Clio R3 | +6m55.4s |
| 15 | Guglielmi Pierre Antoine / Porcu Jean François | Renault Clio R3 | +7m12.9s |