The canaries, who were in the twelfth position in the qualifying stage, chose to start in the first position to the eight timed specials of the first leg. Nikolay Gryazin-Yaroslav Fedorov, the fastest in the morning, have preferred to choose the fifteenth place. The starting ceremony was, once again, a multitudinous act full of light and color.
The Young Russian driver has surpassed his compatriot Alexey Lukyanuk in his battle for the best time in the Qualifying Stage that was held this moring in the Ingenio-Telde stage. After them, as the first qualified Spanish, José Antonio Suárez has finished.
The teams have completed the recce of all the stages that give shape to the route of this scoring test for the FIA European Rally Championship and the Spanish Championship. The priority teams will interchallenge for the first time, stopwatch in hand, in the qualification section of Ingenio-Telde.
The rally puts one more gear and, two days away from its official start, the day of Tuesday May 1st has served for drivers and co-drivers to recognize the stages of the first leg and for their teams to take positions in the service park.
The Salón Gran Fórum of the AC Hotel Gran Canaria has shown an advance of what will be the 42nd edition of this event that is already established as one of the events of the year for Canary Islands in general and for Gran Canaria in particular.
The television audiences of the island event of the European Rally Championship obtained, according to the final report by the Nielsen Sports auditor, 25.29 million viewers, representing a growth of around 51% compared to the edition number 40. Parallel to this, there are already many teams that have contacted the organization to take part in next to be held between May 3 and 5.
The Teatro Pérez Galdós hosted last Sunday the 26th European Sports Island Gala, an event with which the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Ministry of Sports of the insular institution, aims to underline the value of sports through the tribute to the athletes who have excelled in their respective modalities throughout 2017. In it, this institution recognized the Canary Islands Rally as the best sporting event of this year that is coming to an end.
The action will start on Thursday, May 3 with an unprecedented Qualifying Stage that will share its layout between the municipality of Ingenio and Telde and continue the next two days with two stages with eight and six specials each. The race will end on Saturday May 5 with the longest special of this edition, a journey that goes beyond the 24 kilometers.