Mikkelsen at the party, Neuville gives up

Thierry Neuville (Peugeot ) had taken advantage of a spin from Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda) to take the lead of the Rally from Cyprus. But bad luck befell the Belgian's 207 S2000 with a puncture and battery problems in SS4. The winner of the Tour de Corse finally retired on the link course which followed due to an alternator failure. He will hit the road again on Sunday to compete in the Golden Stage. In the meantime, Andreas Mikkelsen regains control of the event and is the favorite contender for the title.

The latest winner of the Rally of Scotland also benefits from the good performances of Nasser Al-Attiyah, who has impressed since the start of the event with his Ford Fiesta S2000. Accumulating 20 seconds behind, the Ford driver holds off Jan Kopecky (Skoda) in 3rd position. The Czech is now Andreas Mikkelsen?s most serious rival for the title, even if he is 25 seconds behind the Ford. Freddy Loix (Skoda) occupies 4th position but is almost a minute away from a place on the provisional podium. The Belgian remains under threat from Patrik Sandell (Skoda), who is only 5 seconds behind the previous Fabia S2000.

The crews will leave to compete in the final stage of the Cyprus Rally. Six special stages will be on the program for a total of 100km timed.