A fastest time from Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso (pictured) has earned him the lead of the rally - but only just. In fact, the first four competitors are covered by only eight seconds and the top three by only two seconds! Peugeot Italy´s Luca Rossetti continues to climb up the leaderboard, having deposed Freddy Loix for sixth place. The crews are now heading back to service at Funchal ...
After the first passage through Service Park, drivers and cars went back to the road for a second round by Campo de Golfe (15,91 kms) and Terreiros (21,74 kms). The leader of the race, Bruno Magalhães (Peugeot 207 S2000) started well doing better than Basso (Fiat Punto S2000), and winning the SS in 9.51,3. Vouilloz was second seven tenths slower and Travaglia third one second behind!
Only then come Alexandre Camacho (Peugeot 207 S2000) and Giandomenico Basso (Fiat Punto S2000). The first one was two seconds slower, while the Abarth drivers was 0.2 secs slower than the madeiran. This way, Campo de Golfe 2 confirmed the leadership of Bruno Magalhães, who would lose it right afterwards. In Terreiros 2, Basso attacked again and goy the leadership. He won with 13.29,7, leaving Bruno Magalhães more than 4 seconds behind, and 0.7 away in the overall classification.
A new highlight for Alexandre Camacho, who keeps his fifth place, 14.8 seconds behind Basso. The rally has seen three leaders so far: Vouilloz was the first one with his victory in the superstage; Bruno Magalhães from the second to the fourth SS; while Basso is the current leader.
After a rather odd start, the Peugeot 207 S2000 of Luca Rossetti seems to want to regain time from the first five. The leader of IRC and ERC seems to be back to the fight. In the second round with another pace, we went up two places and is current 6th. Behind come Loix and Scandola, both more than half a minute away from the leader. Closing the top 10 are the portuguese José Pedro Fontes (Fiat Punto S2000) and the pole Micahel Solowow (Peugeot 207 S2000).
Concerning madeirans, we already know that no one will get close to Alexandre Camacho, but Filipe Freitas (Renault Clio S16000) and Miguel Nunes (Peugeot 206 S1600) are doing an excellent race.
Overall results after SS5:
1 Basso 48m30.1s
2 Magalhaes +0.7s
3 Travaglia +2.0s
4 Vouilloz +8.1s
5 Camacho +14.8s
6 Rossetti +27.5s
7 Loix +28.3s
8 Scandola +32.7s
