ERC – Paolo Andreucci leads at Sanremo

Paolo Andreucci took the lead Rally Sanremo, taking advantage in particular of the problems encountered by Bryan Bouffier, the first leader of the event. The Frenchman was fighting at the front in the first stages before losing a minute following the breakage of his right rear suspension. The pilot Peugeot moved up to fourth place, remaining one minute behind the local rider in first position at the end of the first stage. Giandomenico Basso is the leader's closest rival, trailing 16 seconds after taking the lead over the Skoda of Umberto Scandola who completes the provisional podium. The Italian lost around twenty seconds in the last course of the day, contested at night.

Alessandro Perico completes the top five, eight seconds behind Bryan Bouffier's 207 S2000. Craig Breen was fighting for the first places before the two Ronde specials covered this evening, but the 2012 champion of the S-WRC had to throw in the towel at the end of the first night run after losing more than five minutes changing a damaged wheel. The other Peugeot drivers also experienced disappointments since Jérémi Ancian retired from the start of the event with an engine problem while Jean-Mathieu Leandri did not reach the finish due to a faulty water pump.

Federico Gasperetti dominates the Production category on his Renault Mégane RS more than a minute ahead of Andreas Aigner's Subaru Impreza R4. Robert Consani quickly retired following brake problems but hopes to restart in Rally2. Simone Campedelli is firmly established in the lead of the 2-wheel drive on his Citroën DS3 R3 since he has more than two minutes ahead of the other Citroën of Alex Vittalini.

The crews will still have six stages to complete at the Sanremo Rally. The start will be given at 11 a.m.