Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen leads his fellow Volkswagen Motorsport team-mate Sébastien Ogier by over four seconds after Day 1 of Rallye Deutschland 2016.
Mikkelsen took the lead of the rally on SS2 with his Championship-leading team-mate Ogier making an uncharacteristic error by overshooting a hairpin on Moselland 1 earlier this morning, losing a couple of places in the process.
Mikkelsen and Ogier’s team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala was forced to retire as his Polo R developed a transmission problem on the opening stage. The Finn is expected to restart Rallye Deutschland under Rally2 regulations on Saturday.
2014 Rallye Deutschland-winner Thierry Neuville was third, +6.7 seconds ahead of his Hyundai-returning team-mate Dani Sordo in fourth, who returns after missing Rally Finland due to a back injury.
DMACK World Rally Team’s Ott Tänak is fifth while Abu Dhabi World Rally Team’s Stéphane Lefebvre is sixth in the only Citroën this weekend to run in the WRC category.
M-Sport’s Mads Østberg finished Day 1 of Rallye Deutschland 2016 in seventh having suffered many problems early on in the rally. Østberg’s team-mate Eric Camilli failed to complete SS1 after his Ford Fiesta RS WRC went off in the final moments of Mittelmosel 1.
The third and final Hyundai of Hayden Paddon was eighth after surviving a huge moment in SS4 on the second run of Mittelmosel. Paddon told WRC.com “I was really lucky to get away with it. It was a fast left-hand corner in sixth gear. We went on the grass and then went 45 degrees this way and then that way. It was the biggest moment I’ve had. We’re lucky to be here.”
Germany’s Armin Kremer and Sweden’s Pontius Tidemand complete the top ten on the leaderboard after Day 1 of Rallye Deutschland 2016. Great Britain’s Chris Ingram/Elliot Edmondson in the Opel ADAM R2, finished Day 1 in Germany in seventy-eighth place.
Finland’s Esapekka Lappi is second after Day 1 in Germany. Credit: ŠKODA Media
In WRC2, Armin Kremer leads his home rally by over 28 seconds ahead of Finland’s Esapekka Lappi. Belgium’s Ghislain de Mevius is third, over a minute behind the leader Lappi as it’s an all-Škoda top three after Day 1 of Rallye Deutschland 2016.
France’s Pierre-Louis Loubet is fourth, ahead of experienced WRC Czech driver Jan Kopecký in fifth place while Holland’s Bernhard ten Brinke is sixth.
Peugeot Rally Academy’s Jose Antonio ‘Cohete’ Suarez is seventh in the 208T16, whilst Mark van Eldik, Frigyes Turán and Edwin Schilt complete the top ten in the WRC2 category.
Credit: @World Photography/Citroën Racing Media
Meanwhile, in the Junior WRC category, Italy’s Simone Tempestini leads Slovakia’s Martin Koči by over 12 seconds after Day 1. Terry Folb was the leading Frenchman in the JWRC category in third, ahead of Romain Martel and Vincent Dubert in fourth and fifth places respectively.
Mohamed Al-Mutawaa and Norway’s Ole Christian Veiby, winner of the previous round in Finland, had all sorts of problems on Day 1 completes the top seven finishers in the JWRC category.
Credit: @World Photography/Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy
Finally, in the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy, Britain’s Osian Pryce leads Northern Ireland’s Jon Armstrong by over +23.4 seconds. Poland’s Jakub Brzeziński completes the top three after Day 1.
Rally Finland-winner Max Vatanen is fourth, ahead of Norway’s Oscar Solberg in fifth. Nicolas Ciamin, Karan Patel and Gus Greensmith complete the Day 1 finishers for Rallye Deutschland 2016.
Rallye Deutschland 2016 continues on Day 2 of the rally at Freisen-Westrich 1 for SS6 at 08:20am local time (07:20am UK time).
