The 22-year-old from Norway was in sixth overall, 6.8s behind Peugeot UK’s Guy Wilks, following the two runs through Carron Valley on Friday night. He narrowed the gap to 3.5s by beating Wilks on Saturday’s opening Craigvinean test before moving ahead when he again bettered his rival’s time through Drummond Hill.
When Wilks spun into a ditch at high speed on stage five, Errochty, one of two stages shown live on Eurosport today, Mikkelsen moved into a lead of almost 30 seconds. By claiming two further stage wins in the afternoon amid increasingly treacherous stage conditions that caused the final test to be cancelled, Mikkelsen was able to grow his advantage to 50.7s over Peugeot France’s Bryan Bouffier, who took a stage win during a faultless performance.
Juho Hanninen, the defending IRC champion and last year’s Rally of Scotland winner, is third overnight for the factory SKODA Motorsport team following a troubled morning caused by a lack of traction and “feeling” on the slippery stages. Set-up changes at midday service triggered an upturn in form although the Finn is 51.7s behind Mikkelsen overnight in third.
Thierry Neuville slipped to fourth on the second run through Errochty after spinning twice in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207. A relative gravel novice, the 23-year-old spent much of the day in second position, but was delayed by more than 20s as he struggled to select reverse gear following his second rotation in the increasingly heavy rain.
Irish rising star Craig Breen is an impressive fifth in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 with Patrik Sandell a strong sixth for SKODA Sweden. Jan Kopecky, the IRC title leader, is a distant seventh on his Rally of Scotland debut. The Czech admitted to struggling to adapt to the treacherous conditions on a rare outing on gravel.
Behind IRC Production Cup leader Jarkko Nikara, Toni Gardemeister is ninth with PG Andersson 11th for PROTON Motorsports. The Swede had excelled throughout the morning with a succession of rapid stage times to the extent he was fourth overall after stage five. However, an electrical glitch delayed his departure from the Perth regroup and the addition of 2m20s of time penalties has dropped him out of contention for a possible podium.
Toshi Arai is 12th overall in his R4-specification Subaru Impreza with Matthias Kahle 14th at the wheel of his SKODA Auto Deutschland Fabia. The multiple German rally champion is one of several Rally of Scotland newcomers and admitted his lack of knowledge of the demanding terrain is masking his true pace.
In the battle for IRC 2WD Cup honours, Honda Civic Type R driver Martin Kangur leads from defending champion Harry Hunt and Jean-Michel Raoux, currently second in the class standings. Mark Donnelly was leading but dropped out with engine failure.
Although David Bogie remains firmly in contention for IRC Production Cup glory it’s been a frustrating day for several home-grown talents. Englishman Guy Wilks was in the fight for first place when he spun into a ditch and got stuck for more than five minutes. He holds 15th overnight. Scot Alister McRae retired his PROTON Satria Neo from the top 10 when a rock holed his car’s sump and depleted the oil supply on the first run through Errochty. Alastair Fisher, from Northern Ireland, was seventh when a front-right driveshaft failure left his Fiesta in rear-wheel-drive only for two stages this morning. He has recovered to 13th place. Two punctures and a broken wheel delayed Welsh driver Jason Pritchard.
Burcu Cetinkaya, who became the first female driver to score IRC points when she finished Rally of Scotland in eighth overall last season, is making her return to this series this weekend. On her first competitive outing in a SKODA Fabia, the Turkish driver is 24th overall as she reacclimatises to the rigours of IRC competition.
TOP 10 IRC POSITIONS AFTER DAY ONE
1 Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)/Ola Floene (NOR) SKODA Fabia S2000 58m52.8s
2 Bryan Bouffier (FRA)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Peugeot 207 S2000 +50.7s
3 Juho Hanninen (FIN)/Mikko Markkula (FIN) SKODA Fabia S2000 +51.7s
4 Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL) Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m25.8s
5 Craig Breen (IRL)/Gareth Roberts (GBR) M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 +1m28.5s
6 Patrik Sandell (SWE)/Staffan Parmander (SWE) SKODA Fabia S2000 +1m33.9s
7 Jan Kopecky (CZE)/Petr Stary (CZE) SKODA Fabia S2000 +1m43.4s
8 Jarkko Nikara (FIN)/Petri Nikara (FIN) Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX +2m22.2s
9 Toni Gardemeister (FIN)/Tapio Suominen (FIN) SKODA Fabia S2000 +2m27.3s
10 David Bogie (GBR)/Kevin Rae (GBR) Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX +2m33.0s
IRC Production Cup: Jarkko Nikara (FIN)/Petri Nikara (FIN) Ralliart Lancer Evolution IX
IRC 2WD Cup: Martin Kangur (EST)/Silver Kutt (EST) Honda Civic Type R
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