ERC Valais: Esapekka Lappi takes control on second day
Esapekka Lappi took control of the Rally of Valais on the second day of the European Rally Championship event as erstwhile leader Sepp Wiegand slipped down the standings
Having started the day 4.4s behind Wiegand, Lappi moved into the lead at the expense of his Skoda team-mate on SS5, the German then dropping to third behind Kajetan Kajetanowicz's Ford on the very next stage as he struggled with a poor tyre selection.
Kajetanowicz took his first stage win of the rally on SS9, and currently sits 23 seconds behind ERC points leader Lappi, who gradually consolidated his lead over the course of the day.
A puncture on SS10 cost Wiegand another position, this time to Peugeot's Craig Breen, who steadily ascended the leaderboard with no fewer than five stage wins during the day and is now on course for a podium finish after his day-one troubles.
Local driver Sebastien Carron completes the top five, with Olivier Burri sliding down from fourth at the start of the day to eighth.
Kevin Abbring had been third overnight, but trouble struck for the Dutchman before the day even got going, as his Peugeot ground to a halt with clutch failure before the start of SS4.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS11:
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