Friday, 03 May 2019 18:35

The fight between Lukyanuk and López continues in the second section Featured

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Although the Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet got the best time of the TC4, throughout the repetition of the stages ‘Valsequillo-DISA’, ‘Valleseco-Festina’ and ‘Tejeda’, Citroën maintained their leadership in Rally Islas Canarias.  

Excitement continues in Rally Islas Canarias after the completion of the first six stages of its course. The second section – a repetition of the same stages of the morning – has pretty much ended in a tie, since both teams that stood out in the FIA European Rally Championship classification, Alexey Lukyanuk-Alexey Arnautov (Citroën C3 R5) and Pepe López-Borja Rozada (Citroën C3 R5), have carried on with their challenge for the first position.

The Spanish couple of Citroën Rally Team cut two seconds distance from the Russian in the first stage – where he tied with the quickest time with Pierre Louis Loubet –, but ‘Lucas’ responded immediately with two best times in a row in ‘Valleseco-Festina’ and, specially, in ‘Tejeda’, where he was able to regain his advantage with up to 6,3 seconds. López, however, remains steadfast at the top of his category ERC1 Junior.

Over half a minute ahead, the third position is now in the hands of the Englishmen Chris Ingram-Ross Whittock (Skoda Fabia R5), who have improved their rate in this section and managed to recover up to two positions. The podium remains the scene for a fierce competition, since the Germans Marijan Griebel-Stefan Kopczyk (Skoda Fabia R5) are hot on their heels just one and a half seconds behind. Lacking confidence with the set-up of their car, Iván Ares-David Vázquez (Hyundai i20 R5), have fallen into the sixth position after Norbert Herczig-Ramón Ferencz.

Despite having been penalised with 20 seconds, Jean-Baptiste Franceschi and Antoine Gorguilo (Ford Fiesta R2T) have regained the helm of the ERC3 Junior, category in which Efrén Llarena-Sara Fernández (Peugeot 208 R2) remain third with 15,7 seconds. Alberto Monarri-Alberto Chamorro lead the Abarth Rally Cup and the category ERC2.

The third and last section of the 43rd Rally Islas Canarias consists of the two runs of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria super special stage. The first one will start at 5.56 pm.

 

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