Russian driver Alexey Lukyanuk marked his return to the 2015 FIA European Rally Championship in style winning six of the first ten stages of the auto24 Rally Estonia in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and will head into the final leg of the event leading by 2.4 seconds over Kajetan Kajetanowicz in the LOTOS Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5.
Following the opening stage on Friday night the Russian driver, who is fourth in the ERC drivers standings, held a slender 0.3 second lead over Kajetanowicz but he was over hauled by local drivers Karl Kruuda and Martin Kangur on the first test of Saturday’s leg.
Lukyanuk exchanged positions with his Estonian rivals twice more but headed into service leading by 1.3 seconds from Kajetanowicz.
The Russian driver lost the lead on stage seven after a jump start resulted in a ten second time penalty but Lukyanuk was back in front on the next test after winning stage eight.
The Mitsubishi driver extended his lead over the final two stages to continue his strong return to the series.
Kajetan Kajetanowicz completed a successful day two in Estonia and is well placed in second to capitalise on any mistake from the leader.
Rainer Aus leads the local competition in third place, the Estonian has been improving consistently over the ten stages so far.
Championship leader Craig Breen holds fourth overall after a cautious start the event. The Irishman is 36.9 seconds off the lead.
In the ERC2 category Siim Plangi leads the way in his Mitsubishi Lancer X, he is over two minutes ahead of second placed Dominykas Butvilas.
Latvian driver Ralfs Sirmacis leads the ERC Junior rally. The Peugeot 208 R2 driver holds a 25.1 second lead over Emil Bergkvist. British driver Chris Ingram holds fifth 50.7 seconds off the lead.