SS13: Lukyanuk reignites battle for third in Latvia

Alexey Lukyanuk has reignited the battle for third place on Rally Liepāja-Ventspils by taking 9.6s out of legendary Frenchman François Delecour on the repeat of Swecon.

Following the 21.34-kilometre test, Lukyanuk is now 1.7s behind Delecour with two stages of the FIA European Rally Championship round remaining.

“This is what I want, super, super,” said the Russian, whose decision to use worn tyres and drop his pace this in his Mitsubishi Lancer this morning backfired when Delecour reclaimed the third place he lost on Saturday afternoon. “We have new tyres so we have a new life and now we can push like hell.”

Delecour, in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000, conceded that he’d suffered a few moments due to the slippery nature of the stage surface. “The road is more slippery than before because the studs are moving too much. One or two times it was not very nice,” said Delecour.

Out front, Craig Breen has brought Jari Ketomaa’s sequence of stage wins to an end by topping the times on Swecon. The Irish 207 ace was 1.2s quicker than Ford Fiesta RRC-driving Ketomaa but heads to the final full-length stage of the rally 18.3s adrift of the Finn in the overall classification.

“I’m very happy,” said Ketomaa at the stage finish. “I don’t want to take any risks, everything is under control.”

Crews are now on route to the Kuldīga stage, the rally’s longest at 26.34-kilometre. The action gets underway at 13:15hrs local time.