Freddy Loix narrowly misses Sanremo

The last special of the first stage of the Rally of Sanremo constituted the great challenge of the day. This special held at night comprising 44 timed kilometers allowed Freddy Loix to take the lead of the event at the expense of Andreas Mikkelsen. But the Belgian is less than three seconds ahead of the previous leader with six stages still to go.

Thierry Neuville (Peugeot ) marked time in the last special of the first stage but he remains close to the leaders, being 16??6 behind his compatriot. Bryan Bouffier (Peugeot) is also on a good pace since he is only 1??2 behind the winner of the Tour de Corse. “It was a good day but I expected to be faster”, explains the Frenchman.

Jan Kopecky (Skoda) occupies fifth position, 16??4 behind the Peugeot driver. Bruno Magalhaes (Peugeot) is in a direct fight with the Czech for 5th position, the Portuguese being only five seconds behind the Fabia S2000.

Pierre Campana fell back to ninth place after suffering a puncture on his Peugeot 207 S2000 15 kilometers from the finish. Bastiais is now 2:40 behind the leader.

The final stage of the Sanremo Rally will consist of 109,68km timed spread over six special stages.