SS14: Hanninen stretches Ypres Rally lead

Juho Hänninen leads Freddy Loix on the Geko Ypres Rally by 40s following his fastest time through the Heuvelland stage in his ŠKODA Motorsport Fabia Super 2000.

Hänninen was 11.6s quicker than Pieter Tsjoen, the second fastest driver on the 26.75-kilometre test, despite admitting to driving with a degree of caution in his bid to win round six of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

“We were on the safe side with no extra attack,” said Hänninen. “We will see what Freddy is doing.”

Loix, in a Peugeot 207 S2000, was third fastest with Patrik Flodin fourth quickest for the Petter Solberg Engineering squad.

“We are working hard but I knew this would be a bad stage for us because we don’t have the speed in the straight lines compared to the ŠKODAs,” said Loix.

There was anguish for Robert Barrable, who completed the stage with oil leaking from the gearbox of his ŠKODA Fabia to the extent he feared he would be forced to retire. “We tried to make a temporary fix in service but the car is filling with smoke,” said Barrable, who completed the stage in sixth overall.

Andreas Aigner continues to lead the IRC Production Cup for Subaru with Honda driver Martin Kangur topping the IRC 2WD Cup.