SS1: Mikkelsen takes early lead

Andreas Mikkelsen made a fighting start to the Canon Mecsek Rallye, moving into a 5.1s lead over the opening 18.21km Hetvehely stage in the ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia S2000.

Just 10.6 seconds separate the top six runners, with Mikkelsen’s closest opposition being Thierry Neuville in the Peugeot Belux 207 S2000.

After the stage, Mikkelsen pointed out that some of the tyre barriers that had been in place on the apices of several corners to prevent ’cutting’ had been removed since the recce.

"Some of the tyres in the corners are gone, some are not," he said. "It’s unfair."

Neuville was happier: "It looks quite good and the car is working well. Only in fast sections the car moves a little bit, we will have to look on the setup."

Other drivers also reported that they had started the day without an ideal set-up. Fifth placed Guy wills said: "It was tricky. We had ’no cuts’ in the pacenotes, but the tyres that were stopping us cutting weren’t there. The car is maybe set up a little bit too soft."

Giandomenico Basso completed SS1 but is reported to have stopped his PROTON Satria Neo S2000 after the flying finish.

Overall positions after SS1: