SS2: Mikkelsen leads, Kopecký charges

Andreas Mikkelsen took his second stage win of the day in the ŠKODA Fabia S2000, completing the 28km Orfü test 3.5s quicker than Thierry Neuville to extend his overall lead, while Jan Kopecký moved up the leaderboard.

A time of 14m16.4s through the fearsome Orfü stage helped Andreas Mikkelsen consolidate his lead of the Canon Mecsek Rallye in the ŠKODA UK car. He now leads Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg’s Thierry Neuville by 8.6s.

"I like the stage, it’s quick," said Mikkelsen. "The grip changes all the time."

"These are really tricky stages," said Neuville. "Some sections are so so fast, we couldn’t imagine it in the recce."

Jan Kopecký was third fastest in his Fabia S2000, moving him ahead of Guy Wilks in the overall standings, but he was still not happy with his start to the day: "I don’t like these stages. Too fast with too many chicanes. I’m finding it hard to concentrate because the pace notes aren’t right."

Fourth fastest time through the stage, 7.3s off Mikkelsen’s pace, was good enough to keep Frigyes Turán in third overall: "Amazing. I’m very happy with this. I thought maybe before the rally that a top 10 or top eight position would be good, but to be third is fantastic."

Other drivers also reported difficulties in reconciling the pace of the recce with the speed of the rally itself. "Also in this stage we could find some corners where we could cut," said Peugeot’s Bryan Bouffier, "but it’s like that. I’m almost driving without my pace notes."

Bouffier’s time of 14m31.6s dropped him behind leading IRC Production Cup entrant György Aschenbrenner, who posted the seventh quickest time through the stage in his Lancer Evo IX.

Overall positions after SS2