Leader Mikkelsen to run first on day two

Cyprus Rally leader Andreas Mikkelsen will start first on the road on the final day of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.

The ŠKODA UK Motorsport ace, who heads Nasser Al-Attiyah on the mixed-surface event by 20.7s after five stages, will open the Gialia and Stavros stages in his Fabia Super 2000 before the top 10 positions are reversed for the Anadiou stage.

Mikkelsen, from Norway, said: “Running first on the road will be difficult and Nasser is very quick and will be difficult to beat, but we will try our best to keep him behind us.”

Al-Attiyah will run two minutes behind Mikkelsen in his Visit Qatar-backed M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 with IRC title leader Jan Kopecký third in his factory Fabia. Freddy Loix will run fourth on the road with Juho Hänninen, the defending IRC champion, restarting under SupeRally rules in fifth.

Patrik Sandell is sixth for ŠKODA Sweden followed in two-minute gaps by Estonian teenager Karl Kruuda and ŠKODA Auto Deutschland’s Matthias Kahle.

IRC Production Cup leader Toshi Arai is ninth with leading Cypriot driver Nicos Thomas 10th.

However, there will be no restart for Thierry Neuville. The Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg star retired on stage four on Friday with alternator failure. His team will spend today repairing his 207 S2000 for Sunday’s Cyprus Golden Stage Rally when he will chase a share of the 150,000 Euros prize fund.

Saturday’s first stage, the 14.82-kilometre Gialia run takes place entirely on gravel and goes live at 09:29hrs local time. It will be followed by the all-asphalt Stavros test at 10:12hrs. The Anadiou stage features a combination of asphalt and gravel and starts at 11:10hrs.

Top 10 starting positions for day two:

1 Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)
2 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Giovanni Bernacchini (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000)
3 Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)
4 Freddy Loix/Frédéric Miclotte (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)
5 Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)
6 Patrik Sandell/Staffan Parmander (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)
7 Karl Kruuda/Martin Järveoja (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)
8 Matthias Kahle/Peter Göbel (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)
9 Toshi Arai/Dale Moscatt (Subaru Impreza R4 STI)
10 Nicos Thomas/Angelos Loizides (Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX)