SS2: Kopecký takes lead in Canarias
"It was fine, I was not pushing too much"
Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés has begun in earnest with Jan Kopecký snatching a slight advantage following the second stage of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.
After the charge through the short Gran Canaria stage based at the island’s kart track earlier this afternoon, crews headed 20 kilometres north to the 24.57-kilometre Santa Lucia stage.
At the wheel of a Škoda Motorsport Fabia Super 2000, Kopecký was 0.6s faster through the stage than fellow Fabia driver Freddy Loix to open up a lead of 1.3s over Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg’s Thierry Neuville, who impressed with the third fastest time.
“It was fine, I was not pushing too much not to wear the tyres so I am surprised with the time,” said Kopecký, who won this event in 2010.
Neuville was the only leading contender to elect to carry two spare tyres in his 207. “I’m getting oversteer in the fast corners because of this, it’s not easy,” he said.
Loix’s performance means the BFO Škoda ace climbs from eighth to third in the overall standings. Guy Wilks, who was fastest on stage one, slips to fifth in his Peugeot UK 207.
The next stage, Ingenio, gets underway at 15:04hrs local time.
Overall positions after SS2