Porcisteanu loses IRC Production Cup lead to Pushkar

Valentin Porcisteanu has dropped out of the lead of the IRC Production Cup after a disastrous stage when he lost more than eight minutes with a puncture and bent steering.

The Romanian suffered more delay when his car slipped off its jack while he was changing the wheel. His misfortune has elevated Dream Team Ukraine’s Vitaliy Pushkar into the category lead despite suffering Puskhar a double puncture of the previous stage following his decision to run on two medium-compound tyres.

Edwin Keleti overcame differential problems to move into second place in the class in sixth overall. Marco Tempestini, who isn’t eligible for IRC Production Cup points this weekend after switching to a ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000, picked up a front-right puncture eight kilometres from the stage finish.

Harry Hunt continues to lead the IRC 2WD Cup despite category rival Robert Consani going 16.7s faster than him through the test in his Renault Clio R3. Hunt said: “We’ve got a good lead so we were a bit too steady and lacked some concentration and wasn’t quite committed enough.”