Saturday, 06 May 2023 18:48

Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud – winners of the 47th Rally Islas Canarias


The Frenchmen put their names down in the list of winners in the round valid for the FIA European Rally Championship for the first time. The Citroën C3 Rally2 team has been starring an outstanding weekend in which they have not given away any chance to their competitors. The New Zealanders Hayden Paddon-John Kennard, ranked second, have strengthen their leadership in the continental competition. Efrén Llarena and Sara Fernández got the third position.

 

The Frenchmen Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud won an indisputable victory in the 47th Rally Islas Canarias. The couple with the Citroën C3 Rally2 was in command of the competition scoring for the FIA European Rally Championship since they put themselves in the lead at the end of the fourth special stage. Neither the unpredictable weather conditions nor a ten seconds penalty for having touched a chicane stopped them from registering the victory in the island round.

The New Zealanders Hayden Paddon-John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) settled their debut on the abrasive roads of Gran Canaria with a second position that settled them at the head of the continental competition. The FIA classification podium was completed by Llarena-Sara Fernández (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) after overtaking Solans-Rodrigo Sanjuán (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) by the slightest margin in the last stage.

The Galicians Iván Ares-David Vázquez finished in the fifth position on board of a Hyundai i20 N Rally2. Ranked sixth finished Simon Wagner-Gerald Winter (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), who in the second leg found the speed that had been resisting them throughout the Friday. The Austrians took advantage of the unstable weather conditions to outpace the Italians Andrea Nucita-Rudy Pollet (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) and the Frenchmen Mathieu Franceschi-Jules Escartefigue (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) in the very last moment.

In the support categories, Jon Armstrong-Cameron Fair and Bendegúz Hangodi-László Bunkoczi split up the lead in their respective categories. In ERC3, the British couple had no rivals at all on board of the brand-new Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo, whereas the Hungarians made a good use of their wide margin behind the steering wheel of a Peugeot 208 Rally4 in ERC4.

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