The 45th Orvecame-Isla de Lanzarote Rally began this Friday night with the first timed stages, after a grand starting ceremony from the center of Arrecife, surrounded by a large crowd and representatives of the institutions. Among them were councilors from various municipalities, especially from the capital, with its mayor Jonathan de León at the head, accompanied also by the Deputy Minister of Physical Activity and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, Angel Sabroso, and the Vice President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Jacobo Medina, as well as the president of the FCA, Miguel Angel Domínguez, and the organization staff in charge of Cd. Evesport.
In sporting terms, without any of the participants finishing the first stage, Yeray Lemes became the advanced champion of the Canary Islands, after the road exit of the other contender for the regional title, Miguel Suárez-Eduardo González, when facing the descent through the Los Valles area halfway through the long TC1 "Tabayesco-Las Nieves-El Mojón". The driver and co-driver needed medical assistance, although their apparent condition was good despite everything. The stage was neutralized on the fly and medical and rescue services quickly arrived at the scene of the incident.
It's a shame about this CCRA outcome, with Suárez-González suffering another setback similar to the one they had in the first rally of the year. On this occasion, it seems that their Citroen C3 also had a flat tire and that may have led to the loss of control.
As it was vehicle number 1, no participant completed this first special and the first scratch was then scored by the Citroen C3 Rallys 2 of Lemes-Cambeiro in TC2 "Arrieta-Máguez" and they became leaders of the rally still with the scare in their bodies, not only because they found their rival unseated but also because in that section they punctured both wheels on the left side and luck wanted them to have two spares inside the car, which allowed them to continue. For the record, the rally started towards the classification with the second stage.
Surprise with the second best time achieved by the BMW M3 of Alvaro Caballero-Noé González, followed by Óscar Cabrera-Nerea Cabrera with the third Citroen C3 Rally2. Among the Rally4 of the Sport&You Canarias Cup, Nelson and Ayose Climent were the fastest with the Peugeot 308 in Máguez, followed by Javier Cañada-Aday Ortiz with the Opel Corsa very close (1.4). For the moment, the Galician Alberto Nimo with the Skoda Fabia Rally2 could not get close to the head times.
As expected, Lemes once again achieved a new scratch in TC3, for the record, the first pass through the long section of "Tabayesco-Las Nieves-El Mojón", which this time did take place normally. Oscar Cabrera set the second best time, followed by Cañada and Alvaro Caballero.
The most exciting fight continues to be starred by the Rally4, as this time Cañada managed to beat Climent in the long section by 1.1 seconds, with the Peugeot 308 retaining the lead of the cup by the insignificant difference of 3 tenths over the Opel Corsa.
In general, Lemes and Cambeiro control the lead without problems and this Saturday they will already parade their title in the CCRA through the Lanzarote stages. Second provisional position for Oscar and Nerea Cabrera with another Citroen C3 Rally2, while the podium of the night part is closed in third place by Alvaro Caballero and Noé González with the BMW M3.
This Saturday the Orvecame rally returns to activity at 10:30 am with the "TC4 La Santa Sport-El Cuchillo", which will be held three times, plus the "TC San Bartolomé-La Candelaria", which will be the TC Plus in its second and last pass. In total eight sections, five on Saturday, with an intermediate work park.
The final arrival will be again on the Rambla Medular next to the Open Mall of Arrecife, from 4 pm.
The stages delayed their start by 45 minutes due to logistical problems of the organization, being affected by the delays of flights from Gran Canaria where numerous officials and commissioners of the test were traveling. The incident in TC1 further delayed the start of the two specials that could be carried out, although the long section again had to be neutralized due to the road exit of number 26, the Peugeot 106 of Iván Hernández Clemente Martín, in principle without personal consequences. A total of five teams have retired on Friday night, out of the 45 that finally took the start.
