Skoda's Jan Kopecky edges clear in Rally Zlin

Skoda UK's Andreas Mikkelsen had been chasing works Skoda driver Kopecky this morning, but suffered a puncture on SS9, Semetin, and fell to sixth place.

Erstwhile third-place runner Guy Wilks (Peugeot UK) also had a puncture on the same stage and took longer to change the wheel, causing him to plunge to 12th.

That moved Juho Hanninen up to second in a factory Skoda one-two, despite the champion having a slow puncture of his own on the stage. He shares the position with BFO Skoda's Freddy Loix, who has raised his game this afternoon and was quickest on three of the four stages in the loop.

Loix's burst of pace has pushed Bryan Bouffier down to fourth in what is now the best of the Peugeots.

Thierry Neuville remains fifth in his Kronos Peugeot despite losing time with a trip off the road on SS6.

Further back, WRC Academy frontrunner Craig Breen has been impressing greatly, with top-six stage times on both SS8 and SS9 bringing him up to eighth place.

Leading positions after SS9:

Pos  Driver             Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Jan Kopecky        Skoda                   1h14m28.0s
 2.  Juho Hanninen      Skoda                      + 19.7s
 3.  Freddy Loix        BFO Skoda                  + 19.7s
 4.  Bryan Bouffier     PH/Peugeot France          + 23.4s
 5.  Thierry Neuville   Kronos/Peugeot Benelux   + 1m51.3s
 6.  Andreas Mikkelsen  Skoda UK                 + 2m09.5s
 7.  Toni Gardemeister  TGS Skoda                + 2m25.5s
 8.  Craig Breen        Ford (private)           + 2m32.1s
 9.  Roman Kresta       Adell Mogul Skoda        + 2m46.0s
10.  PG Andersson       Proton                   + 2m50.2s