Polish spectators, some of whom were not very respectful of safety instructions, disrupted Friday’s Rally Poland. SS3 was cancelled after only four drivers had passed through, SS6 was stopped for ten minutes while Andreas Mikkelsen passed, who was therefore credited with a fixed time, and SS7 was also cancelled, with only three drivers finishing.
In these conditions, gaps are hard to create and this is to the Norwegian’s advantage, who finds himself in the lead after SS8 (2.5 km), held at the Mikolajki Arena, and which saw double world champion Kalle Raovanperä and his Toyota teammate Takamoto Katsuta finish in the lead with exactly the same time. Mikkelsen has a lead of 1.8″ over Rovanperä (Toyota), called in at the last minute to replace Sébastien Ogier after his accident on Tuesday during reconnaissance, and 2″ over Elfyn Evans (Toyota).
Behind this trio, Adrien Fourmaux (Ford Puma), solid and serene, occupies 4th place at only 7″5. Latvian Martin Sesks, at the wheel of a Ford Puma without the hybrid system, surprises, with 5th place at 7″7 behind Mikkelsen, while Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) obviously lost time as an opener but the cancelled special stages were undoubtedly beneficial to him: he is 7th at 29″8.
