SS10: big moment for Neuville

The drama continued on SS10 as duelling ŠKODA team-mates Andreas Mikkelsen and Jan Kopecký set identical quickest times, while third-placed Peugeot driver Thierry Neuville narrowly avoided crashing out.

In temperatures over 30C, Mikkelsen completed the stage in 11m09.8s and then Kopecký stopped the clock at the same mark.

"It’s been good morning," said Mikkelsen. "We enjoyed the stage, set a good pace and made no mistakes."

"On the first stage in the morning I was sleeping," said Kopecký. "We will see what happens, it’s all about making no mistakes."

As if to underline Kopecký’s point, third-placed Thierry Neuville missed the mark by 11.1s after a near miss in the Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207 S2000. "We lost a little bit of time with really big moment," he said. "We were really, really, lucky. But we need to continue to push."

Freddy Loix was third quickest in his BFO ŠKODA, 2.4s off the benchmark time: "Okay, that was not bad. I feel better than yesterday and so does the car."

Bryan Bouffier showed renewed speed in the Peugeot France 207 S2000, completing the stage in 11m15.8s. "It’s getting better and better," he said. "I’m more confident this morning. I’m doing my best and the car is perfect."

György Aschenbrenner will soon have to decide whether he wants to fight for a high position in the top 10 or consolidate his lead in the national championship standings. Just 13.9s separate him and the battle for seventh place overall, in which three drivers are separated by 4.6s. Red Bull ŠKODA’s Hermann Gassner Jnr has moved up to eighth overall and is just 3.3s behind Toni Gardemeister, whom he outpaced by 2.4s in SS9.

"It looks good," said Gassner. "It will be an interesting fight now."