Friday, 27 November 2020 16:32

Nil Solans-Xavi Moreno opened up in a first rain-soaked section

The Catalans adapted perfectly to the delicate state of the first four stages of the 44 Rally Islas Canarias. They are just 9,7 seconds away from the also Spaniards Iván Ares-David Vázquez and, further back, Adrien Fourmaux-Renaud Jamoul passed the Canarians Yeray Lemes-Rogelio Peñate on the last stage.

The stages of ‘Valsequillo’, ‘San Mateo-DISA’, ‘Artenara’ and ‘Tejeda’ opened the Rally Islas Canarias in its 44 edition. The first loop took place in the rain, what made the choice of the tires a crucial factor and the first drivers give up.

Nil Solans and Xavi Moreno (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) were the ones to best adapt to the weather conditions and actually completed this first four special stages in the top position with 9.7'' in front of Iván Ares and Dávid Vázquez. The Galicians, who already stood out in the Rally Fafe Montelongo, took away a scratch from their countrymen and reached the second position.

Further back, 27.4'' behind, Adrien Fourmaux-Renaud Jamoul (Ford Fiesta R5 MKII) completed the section in the third place with a very tight fight, considering that up to the seventh position there were a little more than 10 seconds. Yeray Lemes-Rogelio Peñate (Hyundai i20 R5) is the best classified Canarian team and held the first places until the fourth stage. Followed 5.3'' behind by the Germans Marijan Griebel-Pirmin Winklhofer (Citroën C3 R5), the Czechs Erik Casi-Jindriska Zaková (Ford Fiesta R5 MKII) and the also Canarians Luis Monzón-José Carlos Déniz (Citroën C3 R5) in the seventh place, 39.4'' away from the leadership.

The other positions up to the first ten are held by the French champions Yoann Bonato-Benjamin Boulloud (Citroën C3 R5), Miguel Suárez-Dani Sosa (Skoda Fabia R5) and Alexey Lukyanuk-Alexey Arnautov (Citroën C3 R5). The leader of the FIA European Rally Championship was surprised by the humid weather conditions at most stages but still stays three positions ahead from Oliver Solberg-Aaron Johnston (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5).

Pepe López and Borja Rozada had no choice but to quit the race prematurely as their Citroën C3 R5 hit a palm tree in the first special stage of the rally.

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