Bonato wins the Rally of the Canary Islands for the second year in a row, Seska takes 23rd place

Mārtiņš Sesks/Renārs Francis

After the Canary Islands Rally, the leader of the ERC on the second day was Ioan Bonato, who won this rally last year. However, he lost only 0.3 seconds to another French rider, Matthew Franceschi, who climbed to the podium for the first time in the previous ERC stage. Last year’s ERC champion Hayden Padon lost 12.1 seconds.

Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis did not have the most successful day. After completing seven speed stages, Seska’s crew, for whom this is the first asphalt rally with the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, ranked 28th, almost two minutes behind the leaders. After the three dopes of the morning section, Mārtiņš admitted that their car had problems with the turbo, and the crew experimented with adjustments that did not give the desired results. Also at the end of the day, Cesk revealed that it was not easy to find a rhythm.

Photo: FIA ERC

On the final day, after the tenth stage, Bonato extended his lead over Franceschi to 6.9 seconds in the overall standings, but before the final stage the lead was reduced to 3.7 seconds. Meanwhile, three Spanish drivers joined the fight for third place at once, separated by only 0.4 seconds before the final stage! After the 12th stage, the ferret had risen to the 24th position.

Alejandro Cachon was the fastest in the final lap, who took 3rd place. Meanwhile, for the second year in a row, Bonato celebrated the victory in the Rally of the Canary Islands, who managed to overtake Franceschi by 2.8 seconds. Seska/Francim 23rd place, less than four minutes behind the leader. Last year, Cesk finished in ninth place in this rally with Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, losing one and a half minutes.

Rally results: