IRC heroes braced for night stages

The stars of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge are braced for a thrilling climax to the opening day of Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés with two stages in the dark remaining before the overnight halt in Las Palmas.

Jan Kopecký holds the advantage in his Škoda Motorsport Fabia Super 2000 but the Czech has conceded that it might not be wise to go on full attack on the two night tests, the first of which is due to start at 22:16hrs local time.

“We will see to attack,” said last year’s Rally Islas Canarias winner. “There are huge risks that something can happen because you don’t see where the road goes so well. Also the stages are completely new so we will just keep a nice speed and see if it is enough.”

Team-mate Juho Hänninen explained some of the challenges competing in the dark can create. “It’s more difficult without the light to see where you are going,” said the defending IRC champion. “You don’t have so much confidence and your pacenotes cannot be so precise so you tend to hold the steering wheel more and not relax. This can cause more tyre wear.”