SWRC: Pons clear in front in Super 2000 battle

Xevi Pons is on course to land his second victory in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship this season after reaching the finish of day two as the only registered S-WRC driver to have completed all 13 stages run so far.

The Spaniard started the day 12.1 seconds behind overnight leader Bernardo Sousa but took top spot on the first Jordan River Stage when Sousa had to slow to avoid a dog that had wandered onto the stage and when a fly entered his Ford Fiesta’s cockpit and caused him to lose concentration.

Despite those setbacks, Sousa was still in contention for first place until he rolled his car onto its side after going off the road on a right-hander on the final stage of the day. He was able to recover but punctured the left-rear tyre sliding along the ground.

Realising he wouldn’t make it back to final service unless he replaced the damaged wheel, he was forced to stop on the road section to make the change, only for a suspected fuse problem to prevent his car’s engine from restarting. Sousa’s time delay dropped him to third behind Michal Kosciuszko and leaves Pons with a lead of more than nine minutes heading into day three.

“I am very happy with my lead but I still have to be very cautious tomorrow because I know there will be lots of rocks to avoid,” said Fiesta driver Pons. “I have improved the set-up of my car throughout the rally so it’s important I arrive at the finish.”

Kosciuszko restarted under SupeRally regulations following his retirement on Thursday due to alternator failure. His only complaint today was a painful back, the legacy of a heavy landing on day one. “It was very painful but not as bad as yesterday when I couldn’t breathe for more than one minute,” he said.

Eyvind Brynildsen is fourth despite having to soldier through today’s stages with limited rear-wheel drive in his Skoda Fabia. “We have about 25 per cent power in the rear on the straights but not on the corners,” said Brynildsen. “It is a problem with the differential but we don’t have a spare.”

Per-Gunnar Andersson and Nasser Al-Attiyah both restarted their Skoda Fabias on Friday after going off the road in separate incidents on Thursday. Andersson was fastest on three stages to climb back up to fifth while Al-Attiyah is one place behind after going quickest on two stages. Al-Attiyah, from Qatar, should have been higher up the order but lost more than 10 minutes on the first Jordan River stage with a broken throttle cable.

Finn Janne Tuohino was forced to stop after leaving the refuel zone prior to the final stage with a suspected broken propshaft on his Fiesta.

Patrik Sandell’s recovery from broken steering on Thursday faltered on stage nine when a heavy landing cracked his Skoda’s gearbox casing. He tried to complete the following stage but the loss of gearbox oil meant he failed to do so and retired.

Jari Ketomaa made up for the disappointment of stopping before the start ramp on Thursday by going fastest on today’s opening stage, only for a broken alternator belt to trigger his exit for the second day running.