Although Mikkelsen (Skoda UK) had been sceptical about his chances of taking a fourth straight IRC victory as he has never won on asphalt so far, he was fractionally quickest on every stage so far this morning and pulled out a 3.6-second lead over Skoda Motorsport's Kopecky.
As expected, the two factory Skoda drivers have left the rest of the field trailing in their wake.
Event promoter Luis Monzon holds an impressive third place in his Peugeot 207, just ahead of the Red Bull Skoda of Hermann Gassner Jr, while Alberto Hevia and Sepp Wiegand are battling for fifth in another pair of Skoda Fabias.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Andreas Mikkelsen Skoda UK 28m23.2s
2. Jan Kopecky Skoda + 3.6s
3. Luis Monzon Canarias Peugeot + 31.1s
4. Hermann Gassner Jr Red Bull Skoda + 37.6s
5. Alberto Hevia AMP Classic Skoda + 46.1s
6. Sepp Wiegand Skoda Deutschland + 47.3s
Source: Autosport
