Škoda Motorsport’s Jan Kopecký has gone faster than Freddy Loix for the third consecutive stage but has done little to eat into the Belgian’s commanding lead of the Geko Ypres Rally, round six of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Kopecký was six tenths of a second faster than Loix through the Heuvelland stage, which at 28.80 kilometres is the longest of the 19-stage rally. However, his gap overall to Loix is 29.1s.
Loix reported a minor brake problem on his Fabia S2000 but said he expected the fault would be rectified in service back in Ypres. Before then, however, crews will cross the border into France for the Lille-Eurométropole stage, which takes place in the town of Wasquehal.
Organisers have installed several grandstands around the 1.66-kilometre course and are expecting thousands of fans to attend.
Overall positions after SS12:
01) Freddy Loix 1h29m24.7s
02) Jan Kopecký +29.1s
03) Thierry Neuville +1m39.5s
04) Bernd Casier + 02m 54,1s
05) Andreas Mikkelsen + 03m 42,0s
06) Patrick Snijers + 04m 03,7s
07) Michal Solowow + 04m 43,6s
08) Bruno Magalhaes + 04m 52,4s
09) Luca Betti + 05m 22,0s
10) Romain Alexandre + 05m 53,8s
– Credit: www.ircseries.com