Day 1 review: Mikkelsen leads Kopecký

Andreas Mikkelsen leads a fierce battle for the lead on the opening day of the Canon Mecksek Rallye. Driving a ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia S2000, Mikkelsen holds sway over team-mate Jan Kopecký by just 8.7s, with Peugeot ace Thierry Neuville a further 12.7s behind.

This is the first time the Canon Mecsek Rallye has been part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and all the drivers coming here for the first time felt that they would struggle to reconcile the slow pace of the recce (performed in road cars at legal speeds) with the high velocities they would achieve in racing trim once the roads were closed. Nobody expected to arrive with the perfect set-up straight out of the box. Thus the recurring motif during the morning’s opening loop was one of frustration with pace notes and set-up: braking for corners that should be flat out, and finding the suspension either too pliable or so stiff that the cars were jumping over the bumps. For the most part, it was the drivers who adapted most quickly who prevailed.

Mikkelsen won all but one of the morning’s loop of four stages, holding back by his own admission on SS3, a stage he was not yet comfortable with. Kopecký initially complained that his Fabia was too stiff, and that he did not like some aspects of the course, but between the stages he finessed the set-up of his car and by the afternoon he was on a roll, setting commandingly the quickest time on all three stages after the lunchtime service. The last test of the day, due to be held in the evening, was cancelled on safety grounds.

Thierry Neuville was on impressive form in the Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207 S2000, occupying second place overall for the first four stages and showing a thoroughly mature outlook. He made it very clear that he wasn’t going to risk his car by pushing to keep up with Mikkelsen, but still managed to post stage times within the top three on all but one occasion. He too made set-up changes throughout the day to improve the car, and finished the final stage with a firm grip on the final podium position.

For the opening two stages a clearly delighted Frigyes Turán held third place in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000, but the top 10 was so tightly contested that no mistake went unpunished. On SS3 he posted the 10th quickest stage time and lost three places overall. Although he recovered, moving back up to fifth, in the heat of the afternoon he made a mistake shortly before the end of SS5, clipping one of the logs at the apex of a corner and rolling off the road.

BFO-ŠKODA Rally Team’s Freddy Loix spent the morning recreating his exploits on the final day of the Barum Rally, matching Kopecký’s pace to the tenth of a second. But he failed to find the same level of set-up improvements and on the second run through the stages he slipped back to a baffled fourth, unable to understand where he was losing time. "We tried some more things after the last service but it did not work," he said.

Peugeot UK’s Guy Wilks worked through the morning to improve the set-up of his 207 S2000, feeling that it was moving around too much. A calculated gamble to run the harder tyre compound paid off on SS3 when he set the fourth quickest time, but his day ended by the roadside in SS5 after a coolant hose retaining clip came off and his engine overheated.

"Something splashed on the windscreen," he said. "I thought it was from the water bottle, but when I turned on the windscreen wipers I realised it was coolant."

Bryan Bouffier had a problematic morning in the Peugeot France 207 S2000, losing confidence in his pace notes from the first stage when he found tyre barriers which had been laid down on corners to prevent ’cutting’ had been removed since the recce. Then in SS4 he had to back off when he rounded a corner to find spectators crossing the route. In that stage alone he lost 12.2s to the leader, but the retirements of Turán and Wilks enabled him to end the day in fifth place.

After battling brake problems during the morning, Toni Gardemeister overhauled local privateer Róbert Bútor for seventh place in SS6, but he still felt that the TGS Worldwide Fabia had too short a top gear. "In the fast sections I was bouncing off the limiter," he said.

There was trouble early on for PROTON when Giandomenico Basso halted after SS1 with an engine issue, then Per-Gunnar Andersson hit a kerb in SS2 and damaged a wheel. The Swede was able to continue but the impact had also damaged his Satria Neo S2000’s rear diff, adversely affecting the handling. Since the issue did not manifest itself until after the mid-morning service halt, Andersson had to take it easy through SS3 and SS4. This made his aim of a top 10 finish an even tougher task, even before he had to stop with a technical issue on SS6.

Hermann Gassner Jnr found some of the opening stages too slippery for his liking in the Red Bull ŠKODA, but ended the day ninth, 8.1s ahead of Hungarian entrant Norbert Herczig in a similar car.

Outside the top 10 local knowledge really told as a host of entrants from the Hungarian championship dominated the midfield, especially on the tighter stages. Multiple Hungarian champion János Tóth would have finished higher in his Peugeot-Total Hungária Rally Team 207 S2000 but for a recurring diff problem in the morning which cost him over two minutes.

Bruno Magalhães quickly realised he had badly misjudged the gears of his Peugeot 207 S2000 when he reached the first flat out section and found himself hitting the rev limiter in top gear. After that it was along road back to the top ten, and he ended the day just outside in 11th place.

"For sure it was a big mistake with our gear ratios this morning," he said. "This afternoon has been much better."

ŠKODA Deutschland drivers Mark Wallenwein and Matthias Kahle were 16th and 23rd overnight. Kahle was leaving morning service when his engine dropped on to two cylinders. The problem was traced to a broken fuel injection pipe, but it was a lengthy fix and Kahle checked in to the next time control late, incurring a penalty.

IRC Production Cup

In the opening stages György Aschenbrenner and Pikó Zsuzsa Mistubishi were untouchable in their Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, not only pulling clear of the IRC Production Class rivals but also regularly posting top 10 stage times. IRC regular Toshihiro Arai, driving the latest spec Subaru Impreza R4, admitted that he found the stages scarily fast and lost almost two minutes to Aschenbrenner over the morning alone, ending the day seventh. Aschenbrenner leads Beppo Harrach by 1m09.9s.

IRC 2WD Cup

Menyhért Krószer, driving a Citroen DS3 R3T, led from the first stage but 2WD Cup regular Stefano Albertini’s Renault Clio R3 was never far behind. Krószer leads by 15.0s, with third placed Ollé Sasa 1m12.1s behind in his Suzuki Swift S1600. Ferenc Lévai is fourth in a Honda Civic Type R3.

Quotes

Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR), SKODA Fabia S2000, first overall: “It’s been a really good day, and to be leading overnight is a great feeling. Even though it’s quite bumpy, these roads are like a race track and you have to use racing lines. I’m really enjoying myself out there. We’ve got a long way to go on this rally. It’s been very fast and Jan has been pushing us very hard.”

Jan Kopecky (CZE), SKODA Fabia S2000, second overall: “Andreas pushed hard this morning so now we have to catch up. We will see. Much depends on the conditions of the stages tomorrow. Already we have seen a lot of loose gravel on the surface of the last stage.”

Thierry Neuville (BEL), Peugeot 207 S2000, third overall: “It’s been a very good day and we’re exactly where we want to be. On the last stage I couldn’t see the road properly because it was so dark. I didn’t want to damage the car on the last stage. Tomorrow we go on more attack!”