Meeke punctures, Wilks leads

Kris Meeke has lost the lead despite a hugely committed performance after picking up a puncture shortly after the start of the 17.68km Errochty stage. Škoda Motorsport´s Juho Hänninen went fastest with 9m57.8s, 0.9s ahead of Škoda UK´s Guy Wilks, who drove the stage without a front wing after his off-track excursion at Drummond Hill.

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers all rose to the task of putting on a spectacular show for the live broadcast on Eurosport, flat out through the undulating forest stage bordered by unforgiving ditches.

"We picked up a puncture after about 1km," said Meeke, who recorded a time of 10m56.9 in the Peugeot UK car. "About five or six corners in I slid wide and hit a rock. Now it’s going to be tough."

Wilks now assumes the overall lead. "I was unlucky and then massively lucky," said Wilks. "We could have got stuck on the last stage. I’m very happy with where we are. We’ve just got to repair the cosmetics."

"There are a couple of places where if I knew the area better I could go faster," said Hänninen. "I think the speed is okay, though."

Andreas Mikkelsen continued to show impressive form in the M-Sport Fiesta, going third fastest with a 10m03.2s, ahead of Thierry Neuville’s 207 S2000 on 10m16.5s.

"There were a lot of big stones so I had to be careful on the cuts," said Neuville, "but it was a fantastic stage."

David Bogie was the fastest Group N driver, fifth overall with 10m23.7s, while his rivals encountered misfortune: Euan Thorburn’s EvoIX broke a driveshaft at the start and Jonathan Greer spun.

"That was a very good stage," said Bogie. "Traction is pretty good now compared with the first two stages so the suspension could do to be stiffened up a little bit, but it’s going really well."

Electrical problems continued to plague Alister McRae and he stopped on the stage in his Proton, but his team-mates set respectable times. Keith Cronin and Tom Cave were sixth and seventh respectively, although Cronin reported a problem with his intercom which made it difficult to hear his navigator.

"It’s quite loose in places but otherwise pretty good," said Cave. "There are a lot of rocks around so it’ll be difficult on our second run through here this afternoon."

Harry Hunt was the quickest 2WD Cup entry with 11m41.6s after Siim Plangi spun his Honda Civic Type R.

"That was awful for me," said Plangi. "I lost a lot of time. I couldn’t get it pointed the right way."

Overall positions after SS5:

Stages 5 and 8 Errochty

The second longest stage of Day 1 at nearly 18 kilometres, Errochty climbs over Cragan Liath Mor through Tummel Forest to emerge down by the shores of Loch Tummel. This test starts off very technical with many twists and hairpins before opening up to a very fast, flowing blast over the top of the hill. The forestry have been heavily harvesting this area and for those competitors who perhaps ‘cut’ a line too aggressively, there is the real danger of a puncture that will end in a timely loss in a stage of this length. Both runnings of this stage will feature live Eurosport TV coverage.

Guy Wilks says: “Very fast once again – absolutely flat out in places. Some sections are quite open, so spectators can see the rally cars for a long time. The last few kilometres from last year aren’t being used this year to accommodate the live television broadcast for Eurosport on this stage. With the open sections there should be fantastic footage from the helicopter for those at home."