Kopecký closes on second

Freddy Loix has continued his sequence of stage victories on Rali Vinho Madeira by topping the times on Saturday morning’s opening Paúl stage.

Driving a factory Škoda Fabia Super 2000 Facelift, Loix was two seconds faster than team-mate Jan Kopecký through the 10.92-kilometre course located towards the west of Madeira.

The Czech driver is now nine-tenths of a second behind Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Kris Meeke with seven stages still to run before the finish in Funchal.

Overall positions after SS14:

1 Freddy Loix 2h03m25.4s
2 Kris Meeke +23.3s
3 Jan Kopecký +24.2s
4 Juho Hänninen +1m05.3s
5 Miguel Nunes +1m40.5s
6 Vítor Sá +2m08.8s
7 Rui Pinto +6m05.8s
8 Filipe Freitas +6m13.7s