SS10: Double blow for Wilks in Ypres

Any hopes Guy Wilks had of catching Freddy Loix for the lead of the GEKO Ypres Rally appear to be over after the Briton picked up two punctures on his Peugeot UK 207 Super 2000.

Wilks began the stage 46.9s behind ŠKODA Motorsport driver Loix but hit trouble less than two kilometres from the start when he suffered a front-left deflation. He then picked up a front-right puncture later in the stage and has dropped to the lower reaches of the top 10 as a result.

“I can’t believe it,” said Wilks, who had been in a comfortable second place. “I felt something on the front left for the first one but nothing so much, with the second one I don’t know. I was just keen not to loose too much time.”

Loix now leads Peugeot France’s Bryan Bouffier in the overall standings by 1m43.9s. Pieter Tsjoen moves back into a podium spot in his privateer 207 in third place.

“The road was better than this morning but it’s the second one through the stage that will be very difficult,” said Loix.

Bernd Casier has moved ahead of Hans Weijs into fourth overall. Polish M-Sport Ford Fiesta driver Michal Solowow has climbed to sixth position.

Toni Gardemeister dropped time with a puncture in his TGS Worldwide Fabia. A slow puncture delayed Abarth Grande Punto driver Luca Rossetti, while ŠKODA UK Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen also suffered a deflation 10 kilometres from the end of the test.

Overall positions after SS10