SS5: Trip into ditch slows Mikkelsen in Ypres

Andreas Mikkelsen is more than one minute adrift of first place on the Geko Ypres Rally after going off the road and into a ditch on the second run through Mesen-Sauvegarde.

Driving a ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia Super 2000, Mikkelsen took more than one minute more than Juho Hänninen to complete the 15.08-kilometre test.

“I braked too late going into a junction and was stuck in a ditch for more than one minute,” said Mikkelsen. “I think one minute is too much to come back but we will see.”

Mikkelsen, who slips to fifth in the overall standings, wasn’t the only driver to lose time on the stage with Freddy Loix complaining of being delayed behind the recovering Norwegian.

“The [crowd] put Andreas back on the road just in front of me,” said Loix. “He was driving in front of me and I had to back off a little bit because I was driving in the dust.”

Pieter Tsjoen has climbed into the final podium spot in his ŠKODA Belgium-backed Fabia. Patrik Flodin said he wasn’t happy with his performance in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000, while Robert Barrable reported changes made in service in Ypres hadn’t improved the handling of his ŠKODA Ireland-supported Fabia.

With a replacement gearbox fitted to his Ralliart Lancer Evolution X, Jasper Van den Heuvel impressed with the sixth quickest time, one place down on the flying Oleksandr Saliuk.