NEWSFLASH: Nordgren takes ERC Cyprus Rally lead from Al-Attiyah

In a drastic change of fortunes, Nordgren was able to take advantage of Cyprus’ tricky conditions catching out rivals to move into first position, a stark contrast to two weeks prior where he retired from EKO Acropolis Rally from multiple punctures.

Instead, Nasser Al-Attiyah suffered a similar fate, picking up a puncture in both the first and second stages in Saturday afternoon’s loop, leaving him short on spares after only taking a single backup tyre when leaving service in Larnaca. Luckily he was able to survive on three wheels, staying in the rally and falling only to fourth place.

Cypriot driver Simos Galatariotis is now second on his home event, only 4.6 seconds behind new leader Nordgren. Bruno Magalhães inherited third place after Al-Attiyah’s troubles, 8.8s behind Nordgren. Al-Attiyah is now 48.4s behind rally leader Nordgren in fourth

Alexandros Tsouloftas had been set to inherit a podium position, but he stopped early in Saturday’s final stage, unable to continue further and dropping out of the points places entirely. Norbert Herczig now completes the top five overall in his absence, 1m09.9s behind Nordgren.

Alexey Lukyanuk had led after midday service, but retired shortly after due to a crash in SS4.

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