Thursday, 12th May 2022.

The 46th edition of the Rally Islas Canarias could not ask for a better start. At least for the thousands of fans who are looking forward to seeing a local couple among the best teams in the FIA European Rally Championship. As a matter of fact, Luis Monzón and José Carlos Déniz (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) managed to set the best time in the qualifying stage San Mateo in the early afternoon.

Therewith, the two-time Spanish Rally champion, winner of this race in 1994 and 2008, will be the first to choose his starting position in the first leg, which will be starting with the super special stage ‘Las Palmas de Gran Canaria-DISA’ along one and a half kilometres, surrounding the Gran Canaria Stadium and the Gran Canaria Arena this afternoon at 08:35 pm.

The Gran Canaria team has taken the head with a 581 milliseconds advantage, followed by both Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo of the MRF Tyres team, the Italian team made up by Simone Campedelli-Tania Canton and the Spanish team consisting of Efrén Llarena-Sara Fernández, the current continental runner-up. 625 milliseconds behind, Enrique Cruz and Yeray Mujica (Ford Fiesta Rally2) have settled a promising Canarian participation in this qualifying stage as the fourth fastest team ahead of the Austrian champions Simon Wagner-Gerald Winter (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo).

More than a second behind, Grzegorz Grzyb-Kamil Kozdron (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo), Yoann Bonato-Benjamin Boulloud (Citroën C3 Rally2), Nil Solans-Marc Martí (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5), Alberto Battistolli-Simone Scattolin (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) and Javier Pardo-Adrián Pérez (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) follow them in this qualifying stage, which is also a first expression of the feelings of the favorites.

Between the qualifying stage and the opening super special stage, the programme schedule will go on with the selection of the starting positions, the official press conference, the autograph session for the fans and the official photo. All of which will be taking place at the finish ramp next to the Gran Canaria Arena entrance – an open space easily accessible to the public.