ERC – Alexey Lukyanuk continues his march forward in the Azores

Leader this morning, Alexey Lukyanuk (Ford Fiesta R5) took advantage of the second stage of the Rally Azores, first round of the European Rally Championship ERC 2018, to build up a stronger lead before the final stage tomorrow.

In sometimes tricky conditions this morning due to fog, the Russian driver took advantage of a puncture on Ricardo Moura's Skoda Fabia R5 in SS5 to suddenly gain almost a 15″ gap over the Portuguese .

The latter was then unable to be faster than Lukyanuk (victim of a small pop-off valve problem at the end of the stage) throughout the day and conceded 21″8 before the last special stages. The podium is completed by Bruno Magalhaes (Skoda Fabia R5). Chris Ingram (Skoda Fabia R5) took advantage of the final timed sector this Friday to take fourth place against Martin Koci (Skoda Fabia R5) and also dominate the U28 ranking.

Sixième, Fredrik Ahlin (Skoda Fabia R5) précède la Citroën DS3 R5 de Bernardo Sousa, tandis que Rhys Yates (Skoda Fabia R5), Frank Tore Larsen (Ford Fiesta R5) et Carlos Viera (Hyundai i20 R5) complètent le top 10.

The final stage of the Azores Rally will begin tomorrow at 11:38 a.m.

Azores Rally ranking after Stage 2