Brake failure for Meeke

Juho Hänninen has one fewer challenger for overall honours in the RACMSA Rally of Scotland after Kris Meeke´s Peugeot 207 lost its brakes on the second time around Drummond Hill. Hänninen was 2.5s faster over the course than this morning on his way to setting a fastest time of 8m40.0s in the Škoda.

"That was very nice," said Hänninen. "Much better than this morning, although the ruts were much deeper so I had to be more careful in some places."

"I had no brakes from about a kilometre in," said Meeke. "We must have burst a brake pipe somewhere. I’ll have a look now but I’m not sure I can fix it on the road section."

M-Sport’s Andreas Mikkelsen was second fastest, 3.1s behind Hänninen. "We had no problems really," he said. "I hit something with the left rear so I was very cautious after that. To catch Juho? That’ll be very difficult, I think."

Thierry Neuville set third fastest time and was elevated to third overall by Meeke’s misfortune, but lost a little ground to the drivers ahead. "I enjoyed this stage," he said. "I tried to go a little bit harder, the feeling was good so I think it went well, but we still have a long way to go."

David Bogie extended his lead over his Group N rivals by going fourth fastest with 9m14.6s. "We couldn’t raise the car at service because something had seized solid," he said, "We stiffened the suspension a bit but I could hear the transmission knocking over the ruts. I’ve tried not to get too deep them but I’m still really enjoying myself."

Euan Thorburn vaulted Jonathan Greer in the overall standings after Greer incurred a 1m40s penalty for running late on the road. The delay came about because he had to repair a faulty shock absorber by the roadside between stages.

Only one Proton remains after Keith Cronin returned to the service park between stages, unable to continue because of his Satria’s sheared bonnet pins. Tom Cave was sixth fastest and moved up to sixth overall. "We made the correct tyre choice for this afternoon," he said. "It was the right move to run cut tyres because I was able to get more heat into them. If we can get a good run through the next stage I’ll be happy."

Colin Smith retired his Honda Civic Type R after suffering persistent gearbox troubles, leaving just two cars remaining in the 2WD Cup. Siim Plangi’s Civic is over two minutes ahead of Harry Hunt’s Fiesta R2.

"I could have been a bit faster and my braking distances were a bit off," said Plangi, "but it was okay."

"I think I overcooked the brakes there but it was better than this morning and good fun," said Hunt. "I may be braking too much and being too cautious. It’s a lot less slippery now."

Overall positions after SS7:

Stages 4 & 7 Drummond Hill

19 kilometres of what is said to be the best stage in the world by BP Abu Dhabi Ford Team
Director, Malcolm Wilson, Drummond Hill is not for the faint-hearted. At its highest point it is
the same height as Craigvinean but some of the drops that the gravel roads cling to are fairly
steep. The stage is very fast in character and goes from open, tree felled areas to densely
forested sections but all include lots of flat-out crests and blind corners. The bold with total
commitment to their pace notes will do well in this stage.

Guy Wilks says: “The best known stage of the area, and for good reason. It’s very quick and narrow at the start, and you need to be brave because it’s full of inclines and very steep drops. It then begins to open out and continues to be quick. It can be very slippery – last year there had been logging near the start and it was really tricky in the open section. It’s a beautiful driver stage, but you have to treat it with respect – if you’re brave you can gain a lot of time, but it’s also easy to end your rally in there too, especially if it’s slippery. We had a great run through here last year.”