Saturday, 28th June 2008

Belgian ace Freddy Loix on course for a record-breaking fifth win on the Ypres Rally after the opening leg of stages.

Behind Casier, Patrick Snijers – the other man to have won the event four times – lies fifth and is within a minute of the leader, while the top six is completed by Dani Sola's Grande Punto. Jasper Van der Heuvel leads the Mitsubishi challenge in seventh while Abarth pairing Corrado Fontana and Michal Solowow were amongst the drivers to join Kopecky on the sidelines, with mechanical issues forcing both to retire.

Italian driver Alessandro Bettega currently leads the IRC 2WD Cup on his first outing in the Honda Civic Type R R3 – despite having not tested the car before the event. Alessio Pisi, making his IRC debut in a Fiat Grande Punto Diesel lies second in the category ahead of 2WD series leader Marco Cavigioli.

"The shakedown was my first taste of the car," Bettega joked. "Today's stages were my test session!"

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