Loix moves into rally lead

Freddy Loix has moved into the lead of Rali Vinho Madeira with a sensational time through Friday’s opening stage, the 15.99-kilometre Campo de Golfe 1 test.

With large chunks of the stage surface damp, Loix opted for the medium compound BFGoodrich and made the most of his Madeira experience to edge out Škoda team-mate and Madeira novice Jan Kopecký by 2.5s.

Loix is driving with a painkilling injection after injuring his shoulder falling off a motorbike in his native Belgium two weeks ago.

Overnight leader Kris Meeke has dropped to third after opting for a hard compound tyre in the hope it will prove ideal for stage three, which is reported to be completely dry.

Bruno Magalhães’ hopes of a second consecutive victory in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge have suffered a huge blow after he picked up a puncture and lost two minutes, slipping to 21st in the process.

Overall positions after SS2:

1 Freddy Loix 11m44.5s
2 Jan Kopecký +0.7s
3 Kris Meeke +2.2s
4 Luca Rossetti +4.7s
5 Bernardo Sousa +7.9s
6 Juho Hänninen +9.3s
7 Miguel Campos +17.3s
8 Miguel Nunes +17.6s