Sanremo: Mikkelsen in front of a tight group

Andreas Mikkelsen leads the Rally of Sanremo with a lead of only 1??4 over his closest pursuer Thierry Neuville. The winner of the last Tour de Corse shows off once again on the Mediterranean asphalt with the 207 S2000. “It's not bad but we lack traction in places, so I'm not attacking too much”, explains the Belgian.

But Freddy Loix (Skoda) is only five tenths behind his compatriot after taking third place in the last special and signing two consecutive scratches. The Belgian took the advantage over Bryan Bouffier (Peugeot ), which falls to fourth place, 2??1 behind the Fabia S2000.

Bruno Magalhaes (Peugeot) occupies sixth position, just eight tenths behind Scandola (Ford). Jan Kopecky (Skoda) complained about the understeer of his Fabia and fell to seventh place, 1??4 behind the Portuguese. Pierre Campana (Peugeot) remains ninth, 21??3 behind the leader.

Guy Wilks will not have the opportunity to shine in Italy. The Briton hit a bridge on the first special stage of the Sanremo Rally, forcing him to retire.

The crews will resume the course contested before the service to cover a total of 41,08km timed. The drivers will then compete in the long Ronde special (44km) contested at night (from 22:33 p.m.).