The first leg of the 50th Rally Islas Canarias – Rally of Spain showed a complete domination by Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais. The nine-time World Rally Champion won every stage of the day except one: the bp Ultimate Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Super Special, which completed the day’s events.
With five fastest times out of a possible six, Sébastien Ogier, just as his former teammate Kalle Rovanperä did last year, proved superior to the rest of the field. The Frenchman was fastest on both runs through ‘Valleseco – Artenara’ (SS2 and SS5) and ‘Mogán – La Aldea’ (SS4 and SS7). He also won the only pass through the ‘Tejeda – San Mateo’ stage (SS6), which allowed him to finish the leg with an 8.9-second lead over Oliver Solberg / Elliott Edmondson.
The young Swedish driver is proving very competitive in his debut at the island event with a Rally1 category car, consistently posting times close to his more experienced teammates. After eight special stages, he has a 7-second advantage over third-placed Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin and Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston round up the top five.
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT‘s best hope right now are Dani Sordo / Cándido Carrera. The experienced Cantabrian driver is performing admirably in his return to the WRC after more than a year and a half away. At the end of the first leg, he is ahead of his teammates Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria and Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe, seventh and eighth respectively, both driving Hyundai i20N Rally1 cars.
The French duo of Yohan Rossel / Arnaud Dunand dominate the WRC2 category with five stage wins. The only drivers who have come close to their times are Alejandro Cachón / Borja Rozada.
Jan Solans / Rodrigo Sanjuán are currently in sixth place. Enrique Cruz / Yeray Mujica lead the Canary Islands contingent, followed by Armide Martín / Eduardo González.
In WRC3, the Spanish crew of Gil Membrado / Adrián Pérez leads the standings. The young Catalan driver has won every stage of the day in his debut at the Rally Islas Canarias – Rally of Spain, establishing himself at the top of his category.
After this intense first day, which concluded before more than 25,000 spectators in the stands of the Gran Canaria Stadium, the 50th Rally Islas Canarias – Rally of Spain will face its second leg tomorrow, the longest on the route, with 112 km against the clock. In total, the teams will run three stages twice: ‘Maspalomas’ (13.47 km), ‘Arucas – Firgas – Teror’ (13.74 km), and ‘Moya – Gáldar’ (28.90 km), the longest special stage of this edition.
