Kopecky retains overnight lead

Tonight should have seen two stages run in darkness, but the volume of spectators on SS8 Tejada was declared unsafe and the stage was cancelled, meaning SS7 Valleseco was the extent of the evening's action.

Kopecky (Skoda) was fastest on the stage, allowing him to slightly extend his lead as fellow works Skoda driver Freddy Loix slipped back from second to fourth.

In his best Intercontinental Rally Challenge performance yet, Neuville remains right with Kopecky in the Kronos-run Belgium Luxembourg Peugeot, 5.7s off the lead and 3s ahead of reigning champion Juho Hanninen (Skoda) and Loix.

There was also a change in the battle for fifth on SS7, as Andreas Mikkelsen moved up to fifth for Skoda UK, ahead of Monte Carlo winner Bryan Bouffier's PH Sport-run Peugeot France car and Peugeot UK's Guy Wilks.

The rally concludes on Saturday morning with two runs through a further pair of stages.

Leading positions after SS7:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car               Time/Gap
 1.  Jan Kopecky         Skoda                  55m56.3s
 2.  Thierry Neuville    Kronos/Peugeot Belux     + 5.7s
 3.  Juho Hanninen       Skoda                    + 8.6s
 4.  Freddy Loix         BFO Skoda                + 9.0s
 5.  Andreas Mikkelsen   Skoda UK                + 37.6s
 6.  Bryan Bouffier      PH/Peugeot France       + 38.6s
 7.  Guy Wilks           Kronos/Peugeot UK       + 40.7s
 8.  Bruno Magalhaes     Peugeot Portugal      + 1m03.8s
 9.  Giandomenico Basso  Proton                + 1m31.7s
10.  Toni Gardemeister   TGS Skoda             + 1m40.3s