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WRC 2 in Turkey: Kopecký back to the front

For the second day in a row, Skoda's Jan Kopecký bounced back from adversity to recapture the WRC 2 lead at Rally Turkey.

The Czech driver ended an action-packed Saturday with a 44.5sec advantage over Simone Tempestini with just four stages remaining.

Championship hopeful Kopecky began the leg with a 16.3sec lead over British driver Chris Ingram, and he had stretched that to 45.3sec before hitting trouble in SS10.

On Friday, Kopecky lost the lead when he stopped to change two wheels in SS5. This time, a broken driveshaft left his Skoda Fabia in rear-wheel drive only and the resulting time loss dropped him to second, 1m10.8s behind new leader Ingram.

WRC 2 newcomer Ingram clung onto the position until the final stage, SS13, when a puncture cost him almost two minutes, allowing Kopecký to retake the lead with his only stage win of the day.

Citroën C3 driver Tempestini meanwhile recovered well from time lost changing a wheel on Friday and he went fastest in SS12 on his journey back up the leaderboard.

Early leader Kajetan Kajetanowicz was also on the comeback trail following Friday power steering issues in his Ford Fiesta. He was quickest on four of Saturday's stages and back in the podium battle before his power steering failed again at the end of SS12 and he slipped to fourth.

Pedro Heller maintained fifth place in his Ford Fiesta, while Burak Cukurova held sixth and the honour of being the rally's top-placed Turkish driver.

Kopecky's team-mate Pontus Tidemand failed to restart after his suspension-related retirement on Friday. Structural damage was discovered on the Swede's car that could not be repaired on site.

Head to WRC+ to watch All Live from Rally Turkey, including every stage broadcast live, breaking service park news and expert studio analysis.

Zdroj: wrc.com