Intro:

Kevin Abbring led the European Rally Championship (ERC) Ypres Rally in Belgium at the end of Friday's (20 June) racing.

Script:

Dutch driver Kevin Abbring finished the first day of the two-day Ypres Rally at the top of the overall standings after winning six stages on Friday.

His lead over eight-time winner at Ypres and home favourite Freddy Loix was 24.8 seconds.

The current European Rally Championship standings leader, Esapekka Lappi, sits in third on his maiden appearance at Ypres, 39.1 seconds behind Abbring.

Lappi is ahead of another Belgian, Cedric Cherain, who lies a further 14.7 seconds back.

Sepp Wiegand, racing for Skoda, is in fifth but a full 92 seconds behind the race leader.

The rally concludes on Saturday (21 June) after a further 13 stages.