Ireland - after SS8: Trouble for Mikkelsen as Hanninen stretches lead

SS6: IRC champion Mikkelsen reclaims Circuit lead

Andreas Mikkelsen has turned his 0.6s deficit into a 0.6s lead on the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally, round three of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Mikkelsen took 13m50.2s to complete the 25-kilometre test, the first of Saturday’s 10 stages. He was 1.2s quicker than former leader Juho Hänninen.

“It was much drier than I expected and I went with a very soft tyre,” said the ŠKODA UK Motorsport driver, who completed the stage with a broken rear-right wheel. “It was going off quite badly and the car started to understeer. I tried to push as much as I can but it’s not easy.”

Hänninen, who opted for the hard compound Michelin option, feared he had lost the lead at the completion of the run. He told IRC Rally Radio: “I was too careful in the muddy and wet places and I’m a bit afraid that is not enough, it was not the tyre it was the driver. The speed is not enough, that is for sure.”

Jan Kopecký was third fastest, 12.7s down on Mikkelsen. “It was very tricky, the guys in front of me are pushing like hell, hitting the banks and putting the rocks on the road,” he said. “The middle part was very slippery.”

Craig Breen was fourth quickest in his Saintéloc Peugeot 207 Super 2000. Sepp Wiegand was fifth in his ŠKODA Auto Deutschland Fabia with Mathieu Arzeno sixth quickest in his Peugeot.

“The stages are difficult and damp and the most important thing is to stay on the road,” said French driver Arzeno. “But the time was no good – I don’t push 100 per cent.”

Robert Barrable lost time when he went off the road approximately four kilometres from the stage finish. “I went through a fence into a farmer’s field and stalled,” said the ŠKODA Ireland driver.

Alastair Fisher has retired after crashing his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 early in the stage.

SS7: Hanninen back in front in Northern Ireland

Juho Hänninen has reclaimed the lead on the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally as the battle for victory on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event continues to intensify.

Driving a ŠKODA Motorsport Fabia Super 2000, the Finn was 2.2 faster than Andreas Mikkelsen to move back in front with an advantage of 1.6s heading to the third stage of day two.

“It was dry the whole stage so it was easier than the first one,” said Hänninen, who is running a harder compound tyre. “I really tried and really enjoyed this stage. I try to have fun.”

Mikkelsen is using a softer compound tyre for the morning loop, which performs better in damp conditions. “The tyre was going off quite bad, we try not to lose too much time,” said the ŠKODA UK driver.

Jan Kopecký said he was “not very happy” after slipping 53.0s adrift of team-mate Hänninen in the overall standings.

Craig Breen reported the rear of his Saintéloc Peugeot 207 Super 2000 was sliding too much, while team-mate Mathieu Arzeno said his focus was on finishing the rally.

Krozser retires from IRC 2WD Cup battle

Menya Krózser’s bid for a top 10 finish in the IRC 2WD Cup is over after his Honda Civic Type R suffered a broken driveshaft on Saturday’s opening stage, the 25-kilometre Redrock test.

The Hungarian started day two of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event with high hopes of scoring points alongside co-driver György Papp.

Marty McCormack continues to lead the category in his Saintéloc Racing Citroën DS3 R3T after seven stages of the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally, despite overshooting a square-right junction on stage six. Tommy Doyle is second in a Renault Clio R3.

SS8: Trouble for Mikkelsen as Hanninen stretches lead

Juho Hänninen has extended his lead on round three of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the Donnelly Group Circuit of Rally, following Saturday’s third stage, Hollow 1.

Hänninen, who has won more other IRC events than any other driver, was 7.4s quicker than Mikkelsen and now leads overall by 9.0s.

“I’m quite happy and Andreas didn’t take much time out of me so that was good,” said Hänninen.

Mikkelsen dropped time with an overshoot. He said: “I went straight on in a junction and needed to reverse. I lost a lot of seconds.”

Jan Kopecký said he was struggling for confidence in his factory Fabia due to pacenote issues.

Saintéloc Peugeot 207 S2000 driver Mathieu Arzeno reported his soft compound tyres weren’t suited to the dry stage conditions. Sepp Wiegand also regretted his decision to run soft compound tyres on his ŠKODA Auto Deutschland Fabia.

Garry Jennings tops the IRC Production Cup by 12.0s over Sam Moffett.

IRC 2WD Cup leader Marty McCormack has reported a gearbox issue on his Citroën DS3 R3T, while category rival Tommy Doyle reported significant tyre wear.

Crews are now heading to Armagh for a 30-minute service halt.