The Rallye Isla de Los Volcanes – Trofeo Ciudad de Arrecife honors list adds another world championship name, that of Pierre-Louis Loubet. The driver invited by Club Deportivo Evesport has completed his debut on the demanding roads of the island of Lanzarote with a victory over all the candidates for the title of the Spanish Gravel Rally Championship – Rallycar, thus emulating his compatriot Yohan Rossel.
Together with Loris Pascaud, the French driver did not relinquish the first position since he accessed it with his scratch in the second pass through ‘Teguise’. His vast experience in all types of terrain and conditions helped him develop a strategy with which his privileged place was never in danger. Not even a ten-second penalty worried him on his way to the highest step of the podium.
Behind the 2019 WRC2 world champion, Gil Membrado and Alejandro López secured a second place of tremendous value in their assault on the CERT-Rallycar title. The young Catalan is moving directly towards the full points, since his result in the event based in Arrecife counts as a triumph. Finishing in the top twelve of either of the two remaining events is what he needs to be champion.
Juan Carlos Quintana and Jonathan Hernández led the list of Canary Islands representatives with their third place. Aboard a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 rented from Calm Competición, the driver from Gran Canaria showed that he maintains the same pace he set when he competed more regularly at the national level. On the other hand, he has won the honors in the Canary Islands Gravel Rally Championship (CCRT).
The defending champion of the CERT-Rallycar has said goodbye to the bad luck that accompanied him since he premiered the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 back in May in Pozoblanco. After stringing together a series of retirements, this is the first time he has reached the final finish line with the Japanese firm's car, which took him to fourth place in the general classification. Aleksandr Semenov and Aleksei Ignatov closed the top five in their Hyundai i20 N Rally2, with a regularity that gives them another good amount of points for the CERT-Rallycar.
Alejandro Rodríguez and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, on the weekend of their debut with a Rally2 mechanic, surprised with a speed that catapulted them to sixth place overall and second in the regional section. The Italians Gabriele Campagnoli and Nicola Arena have extended their romance with the Lanzarote tracks, obtaining the best result of their entire sporting career, a seventh place.
Calderín-Tejera at the top again
Cristian Calderín and Verónica Tejera once again played the role of giant killers at the controls of their Volkswagen Golf GTI. The current regional champions led the 2 Wheel Drive section ahead of the Opel Corsa Rally4 of Luis Martínez-Christian Moran and the Renault Clio Rally5 of Jordi Nualart-Daniel Rivera, winners in the debut of the Clio Trophy Spain Gravel in the Archipelago.
Despite not getting a place in the “top 10”, Raúl Hernández and José Murado finished this ‘Isla de Los Volcanes’ with more stage wins than anyone else. The Lanzarote native, aboard a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, lost his chances with a road trip early in the morning. After the pertinent repair, he returned to the caravan and pocketed four scratches, to which must be added the one from the super special.
In total, seventeen teams were unable to reach the arrival ceremony in Arrecife. Among them was the one formed by Borja Pérez and Rubén Pérez. The drivers from Majorca overturned on the first visit to ‘Tinajo’ after a bad landing. The Galicians Francisco Dorado-Andrea Lamas, regulars of the CERT-Rallycar, also retired with a road trip in the timed section of ‘Teguise 2’, as did Juan Pablo Castro-.Juan José Leal and Gustavo Sosa-Alba Sánchez, among others.
The test ended with the final ceremony at Playa del Reducto in Arrecife, with the vice president of the RFEDA and the presidents of FIALP, FALP and the FCA, together with representatives of several Lanzarote town councils, the capital of Arrecife with its mayor Jonathan de León at the helm and the Island Council, its Sports Councilor Juan Monzón, who once again supported the organizational work of CD. Evesport led by José Víctor Rodríguez, who was praised by everyone and mainly by the majority of the participating teams.