With just two short final stages in the grounds of Scone Palace remaining, Andreas Mikkelsen leads the RACMSA Rally of Scotland by 30.4 seconds – after the completion of all wet and slippery forestry stages in Perthshire and Stirlingshire.
Co-driven by Ola Fløene, Andreas has driven brilliantly to maintain his lead today – although he suffered a puncture during both runs through High Corrie, which at 16.15 miles / 26kms was the longest of the event.
The first time he dropped a few seconds after picking up a rear right puncture 3.7 miles (6kms) from the end of SS11, and then he picked up a right front puncture 1.8 miles (3kms) from the end of SS13 – the repeat run.
All that now separates Andreas from his first Intercontinental Rally Challenge victory are two runs over the 1.76 mile (2.84km) Scone Palace stage.
Overall positions after SS13
1. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….1h51m12.4s
2. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+30.4s
3. Bryan Bouffier/Xavier Panseri (Peugeot 207 S2000)….+1m34.4s
4. Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000)….+2m00.5s
5. Jan Kopecký/Petr Starý (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+2m13.5s
6. Toni Gardemeister/Tapio Suominen (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+3m14.7s
7. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Peugeot 207 S2000)….+3m18.1s
8. Alastair Fisher/Daniel Barritt (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000)….+5m02.9s
9. Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Peugeot 207 S2000)….+6m54.3s
10. Toshi Arai/Dale Moscatt (Subaru Impreza)….+8m14.6s
