Robert Kubica took a significant step towards securing the WRC 2 world title when he built a 51.7sec category lead in the darkness of the all-asphalt opening leg of Rally de Espana.
The Pole threw down the gauntlet when he was fastest in his Citroen DS3 RRC by 26.5sec over the opening Querol test in the hills north-east of Salou. He won El Montmell by 13.9sec and completed a clean sweep by claiming quickest time in Riudecanyes by 10.1sec.
Kubica requires a top two finish here to secure the title, but it wasn’t all plain-sailing as he suffered a handbrake problem in the final stage.
Elfyn Evans struggled through Querol with a misfiring engine in his Ford Fiesta R5. Nevertheless, the Welshman was third fastest and as the misfire cleared in the next test, he moved ahead of Sepp Wiegand and ended the night with a 25.7sec advantage over the German.
Wiegand survived a scary moment in the final test when his foot slipped off the brake of his Skoda Fabia S2000 approaching the famous roundabout almost 4.5km after the start.
Yazeed Al Rajhi lies fourth in a Fiesta RRC, a further 24.7sec behind, with the Fiesta R5s of Ireland’s Robert Barrable and Indonesia’s Subhan Aksa completing the top six.
Rashid Al Ketbi damaged the rear right suspension of his Fiesta R5 when he spun into a rock face near the end of the opening stage. He completed the test but the damage was too great to continue. Jordan’s Ala’a Rasheed also retired his similar car after the first test.