The driver from Conejero, accompanied by José Murado, becomes the first leader of the 27th Rally Isla de Los Volcanes – Arrecife City Trophy. The Canary Islands fans enjoyed a Friday full of activity that culminated in the presentation of the teams, an act that reflects the strong institutional support that the event receives.
Raúl Hernández conquers the lead of the 27th Rally Isla de Los Volcanes – Arrecife City Trophy. The young talent of Canarian motorsport, co-piloted by José Murado, imposed his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in the 1.54 kilometers of the 'Arrecife City' super special, to which hundreds of fans traveled to enjoy the Spanish Gravel Rally Championship - Rallycar.
For the third consecutive year, the fairgrounds of the capital of Lanzarote hosted the opening stage of the event organized by the Evesport Sports Club. The spectators responded en masse again and took the local idol in flights towards the scratch. The representative of MRF Tyres, very grateful for the support that his followers show him every time he competes outside the Canary Islands, established a time of 1:41.1.
Another young athlete, the Catalan Gil Membrado, occupies the second position in the provisional classification. At the controls of the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of PAST, the undefeated leader of the CERT-Rallycar and his navigator, Alejandro López, gave up 1.5” with Hernández. Pierre-Louis Loubet and Loris Pascaud are in third place, 2.2” behind the first classified. The Frenchman was in charge of opening the track in the capital's section.
Alejandro Rodríguez and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) are fourth, just ahead of Juan Carlos Quintana and Jonathan Hernández (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2). The man from Tejeda was one of those who most enjoyed the atmosphere that the fans created in the crowded super special. The current national champion, Alexander Villanueva, is fifth with his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and the company of Axel Coronado.
The Russian Aleksandr Semenov, with Aleksei Ignatov on the notes, has directed his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 to seventh place, while the Galicians Francisco Dorado and Andrea Lamas are eighth with their Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. Manuel Osorio and Alberto dos Reis (Škoda Fabia R5), another duo from peninsular Spain, appear in P9. The top ten is completed by Borja Pérez and Rubén Pérez (Škoda Fabia R5).
Carlos López, in charge of opening the road on Saturday
After the celebration of the 'Arrecife City' super special, the teams armed with four-wheel drive vehicles participated in the starting position election ceremony. Raúl Hernández, the author of the scratch in the Qualifying Timed Section, will start in the most delayed place possible, the seventeenth. The world champion Pierre-Louis Loubet will do so in fifteenth place.
The arduous task of opening the road in the more than one hundred timed kilometers planned for this Saturday has fallen to Carlos López. The BMW 325ix E30, with Javier Padrón to his right, had the possibility of starting second, but opted for the first position. Just behind him, the Gran Canaria drivers Rafael Pérez and Raúl Galván will start at the wheel of their tireless Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.
The 27th Rally Isla de Los Volcanes, with full institutional support
After the starting position election ceremony, the 50 teams authorized to participate in the 27th Rally Isla de Los Volcanes paraded along the starting ramp. Again, hundreds of fans conveyed their warmth to the fastest drivers on the national scene in terms of gravel competitions. On the other hand, the institutions also reflected their strong support for this event.
The Minister of Sports of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Juan Monzón; the mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León; the Councilor for Sports of that same municipality, Eli Merino, together with other councilors from various island municipalities; Ángel Echegoyen, vice president of the Royal Spanish Automobile Federation (RFEdA); Javier Martín, representing CICAR and the Cabrera Medina Group; the presidents of the automobile federations of the Canary Islands and Las Palmas, Miguel Ángel Domínguez and Dani Ponce, together with Edgar Morales from La Palma and the president of CD. Evesport, who were among the personalities who showed a warm welcome to all the participants, who received two metal plates of this edition as a souvenir for the driver and co-driver.
