&
The seven-time Finnish champion, back in the IRC for the first time since the China Rally in 2008, had impressed having only sampled his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 on a handful of runs of shakedown before Friday’s opening stage got underway.
However, following a spin on stage nine, Salo was forced to stop on the road section heading to stage 10 when his car developed a water leak.
Salo’s misfortune promotes his fellow Finn Jarkko Nikara into fifth place with Hungarian Gergély Szabó up to sixth position.
Mikkelsen Andreas
168 pt.
Kopecký Jan
101 pt.
Hänninen Juho
93 pt.
Wiegand Sepp
73 pt.
Consani Robert
97 pt.
Arai Toshi
86 pt.
Aigner Andreas
83 pt.
Tempestini Marco
63 pt.
Hunt Harry
126 pt.
Consani Robert
87 pt.
Kangur Martin
51 pt.
Campedelli Simone
50 pt.
Breen Craig