Photos: Javier Fuentes.- Jesús Machín knew how to make the most of the penalty suffered by Samuel Lemes, his most direct adversary in the fight for the triumph, and he won the twenty-seventh edition of the Isla de Lanzarote Automobile Rally, which took place this Saturday on roads in the municipality of Conejo.
Machín, at the controls of a Skoda Octavia WRC, imposed from the beginning of the race, organized by the Las Palmas Federation, a strong pace that allowed him to accumulate seconds of advantage at the head of the classification, a leadership that he would not abandon throughout the rally, despite the pressure exerted by Lemes, who won six of the nine timed sections.
Thus, both drivers had to wait until the show stage -of just 600 meters-, which was held in the Parque Ferial de la Biosfera, where Machín only needed to take care of his mount to avoid a fatal incident.
Machín, with three first places, faced this last obstacle with the intention of securing the first place against the Ford Escort WRC of Samuel Lemes, who could only subtract two of the seven seconds of advantage that he enjoyed.
However, the fight at the beginning of this race, valid for the Canary Islands Asphalt Championship, did not feature these two drivers. The aforementioned penalty of 20 seconds -he suffered the stoppage of his vehicle and arrived late to the control of the first section- forced Lemes to come back from the eighth position in which he finished his first pass to the Tabayesco-Los Helechos section (9.1 kilometers).
In the initial stages of the Rally, Machín was pressured by Juan Luis Cruz (Subaru Impreza WRC) and Armando Machín (Citroen Xsara Kit Car).
However, while Cruz managed to stay in the leading positions by securing the third step of the podium, Armando Machín had to abandon, as did Samuel Marrero (Citroen Saxo Kit Car) and Antonio Ortega (Seat León Cupra).
The fight for the victory in group N was also full of excitement, since Fran Suárez, with a Mitsubishi Evo VIII, won after fighting from the beginning with the aforementioned Antonio Ortega.
This record of Suárez -he finished in sixth place overall- secured him the title in the Provincial Championship of Las Palmas of the specialty.
These first six places were completed with Francisco Lemes (Mitsubishi Evo VI) and Miguel Curbelo (Mitsubishi Carisma), who finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
