Five in the Top Ten | Canary Islands Rally

In the demanding asphalt Canary Islands Rally, five Škoda crews finished in the top ten. Eric Camilli and Thibault De La Haye took third place, while Roberto Daprà and Luca Guglielmetti finished fourth. Overall, drivers from Southern Europe excelled in the rally.

The Canary Islands Rally was only added to the WRC calendar as the Spanish Rally last year, and this year’s return of the WRC circuit confirmed just how demanding the event is on its narrow, winding mountain roads. The high-grip surface, which demands a very precise, almost circuit-like driving style, was expected to suit the asphalt specialists from Southern Europe better. And the rally results confirmed this: the top five crews to finish in the WRC2 category were from France, Spain, and Italy.

Among them were two crews driving Škoda cars. Fourth place in the competition went to the French duo Eric Camilli and Thibault De La Haye from Eurosol Racing Team Hungary. They gradually found their rhythm on Friday and were already in fourth place in the overall standings by the penultimate stage of the day.

On Saturday, they briefly battled for this position with another Southern European crew driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2: the duo of Roberto Daprà and Luca Guglielmetti. The standings eventually settled, with Camilli moving up one spot to fourth. Camilli was thus able to celebrate a podium finish at the finish line, while Daprà earned valuable points for fourth place. Thanks to these results, the Italian driver from the Delta Rally Team moved up to third place in the overall championship standings in the WRC2 category.

Seventh place in the competition went to another Southern European crew in a Škoda, the duo of Jan Solans and Rodrigo Sanjuán from the PH.Ph. team. Former WRC2 World Champion Emil Lindholm of Finland also managed to keep pace with his Southern European rivals. He held a strong position early on, sitting in fourth place after five special stages. However, the Toksport WRT crew then suffered a puncture, losing a minute on the sixth special stage—a significant setback in such a competitive field.

Lindholm and his co-driver Gabriel Morales then stepped up their game and climbed back up to eighth place as the rally progressed. They even managed to set the fastest time on the ninth special stage. Rounding out the top ten were another crew in a Fabia RS Rally2, reigning Junior World Champions Mille Johansson and Johan Grönvall, another Škoda crew from Northern Europe.

Robert Virves and Jakko Viilo also returned to the WRC circuit in the Canary Islands, though only outside the official championship standings. Virves, who prefers gravel, used the event to become more familiar with the Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 on the asphalt stages. “I won’t be worrying about the times,” Virves explained before the event. He completed the rally without major difficulties, and his time would have ultimately placed him 15th in the RC2 class.

In the WRC Masters Cup category for drivers over fifty, reigning world champions Miguel Granados of Mexico and his Spanish co-driver Marc Martí won the Canary Islands Rally. From the Canary Islands, the crews will head to Portugal, where a gravel rally awaits them from May 7 to 10.