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After SS1: Evans leads Breen as Cronin hits early trouble

Elfyn Evans leads the Circuit of Ireland after the opening stage of round two of the FIA European Rally Championship.

The British championship leader continued his pace-setting form from yesterday's Qualifying Stage on the 21.02-kilometre Cairncastle test, completing it in a time of 10m10.4s in his Ford Fiesta R5.

With the changeable weather a big talking point for this event, Evans said: "It is almost fully dry, we were expecting a lot more dampness and wetness in there. The car was moving around a lot as we are set-up for wetter conditions."

Last year's Circuit of Ireland winner Craig Breen was second on his return to the ERC in a Citroën DS3 R5, 6.4 seconds down on Evans. He was ahead of local ace Alastair Fisher and defending ERC champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz, who was 11s slower than Evans. ERC regular Jaromír Tarabus was fifth in his first stage of the season.

Three-time British champion Keith Cronin had a nightmare start to the event, reported as stopping with an engine problem on his Citroën after an off at the first corner.

The crews move on to SS2 Knockboy 1 starting at 10h43 local time.

Zdroj: fiaerc.com