Peugeot Belgium driver Nicolas Vouilloz (pictured), who is leading the IRC standings on 26 points jointly with Peugeot Italy’s Luca Rossetti, is in front after the first 13 stages of the all-asphalt Madeira Rally: round five of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. ...
Vouilloz – who won the opening spectator superspecial through the streets of Funchal last night – took over the lead of the rally again on SS12 after local hero Bruno Magalhaes picked up a puncture that cost him three minutes. The Peugeot Portugal driver had earlier taken the lead on the opening stage of the day and only lost it briefly to Abarth’s Giandomenico Basso (the winner in Madeira last year) before the puncture on SS12. Magalhaes now ends the opening leg of the rally in a disappointed 10th, but he is determined to fight back tomorrow.
Basso’s bid to hang onto the lead, which he claimed on SS5, was defeated by a poor tyre choice during the afternoon. Believing that there was a risk of rain, Basso headed out on soft cut slicks. Instead, conditions actually became warmer and so the Italian tumbled down the order – ending up fourth at the end of the day.
Consequently local driver Alexandre Camacho has ended up second to uphold Portuguese honours at the end of day one, just 3.7 seconds behind Vouilloz at the wheel of another Peugeot 207 S2000. Completing the podium is former European Champion Renato Travaglia in an Abarth Grande Punto.
Despite some fears of rain in the afternoon over the varied Madeiran asphalt stages, conditions remained dry and hot all day. The warm conditions and demanding mountain roads frequently caused tyres and brakes to overheat; a problem that particularly affected joint IRC series leader Luca Rossetti (Peugeot Italy) throughout the opening loop of stages. Nonetheless, the only major retirement was Brice Tirabassi, whose Peugeot stopped with an electrical problem on SS5.
“It’s a bit of a surprise for me to be leading; I expected to be second or third tonight,” said Vouilloz at final service. “Magalhaes was very quick all day today and I found it quite hard to follow his pace. We still have Camacho close behind, who knows the roads too, so I think that tomorrow will be another big fight.”
The top driver in the IRC 2WD Cup is local man Miguel Nunes, at the wheel of a Peugeot 206 Super 1600. The similar car of Antonio Nunes is not far behind.
Tomorrow the crews will tackle another full day of rallying, comprising eight stages and 114 competitive kilometres. One of the sport’s top stars is not driving competitively though, as rally legend Markku Alen will once more lead the field in the Fiat 500 Abarth zero car.
