Aigner takes second IRC Production Cup triumph for Subaru

Andreas Aigner has moved to the top of the IRC Production Cup standings by making it two wins from two starts on the Geko Ypres Rally in his Stohl Racing-run Subaru Impreza R4 STI.

Austrian Aigner began day two leading the class but slipped behind the flying Jasper Van den Heuvel on Saturday’s dramatic opening stage where frontrunners Kris Princen and Cédric De Cecco both crashed.

But when transmission failure forced Van den Heuvel into retirement on the very next stage, Aigner was left in the clear to claim an impressive victory on his Ypres debut, despite brake problems causing him considerable concern on Saturday morning.

“It was fantastic with no big problems for the whole rally apart from the brakes,” said Aigner, who was co-driven by Daniela Ertl. “Thanks to Subaru and STI for their support and our team. I missed two junctions for the whole rally, which is not too bad for such a long event.”

Bob Colsoul finished second having dropped out of the lead on Friday with turbo failure. Renault Mégane RS driver Robert Consani scored points for the third time this season to keep his title hopes on course after surviving a hefty collision with a tree on the penultimate stage.

Martinique’s Johan Heloïse and Ukraine’s Vitaliy Pushkar both scored points for the second event in a row.