The Belgian duo Christophe Jacob/Isabelle Regnier, in a Ford Escort RS 1800, finished the first stage of the Historic Rally Fafe—the opening round of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship on gravel—this Friday with a 20.7s lead over Sammarinese Nemo Mazza (Ford Escort RS), after completing the first six special stages (69.14 km).
Jacob took the lead in the second "special" from Spaniard Daniel Alonso Villaron (Ford Escort RS 2000)—who eventually lost significant time and retired due to mechanical problems—and never let it go, resisting attacks from both Jesus Ferreiro Perez (Ford Escort RS 1800) and Nemo Mazza (Ford Escort RS). The latter overtook the Spanish driver during the morning round and held onto the position tooth and nail from then on.
The rally is far from being decided, even in the middle of the standings, especially as the second and final stage, this Saturday, includes six more special stages (67 km), with a double pass through Seixoso, Montim, and Lameirinha.
Classification
1º, Christophe Jacob/Isabelle Regnier (Ford Escort RS 1800), 58m12,9s
2º, Nemo Mazza/Mauro Marchiori (Ford Escort RS), a 20.7s
3º, Jesus Ferreira Perez/Javier Anido Vasquez (Ford Escort RS 1800), a 31.5
4º, Darryn Snooks/Stewart Snooks (Ford Escort RS 1800), a 44.4
5º, Pasi Hapulahti/Antti Nordstrom (Volvo 242), a 1.34.3
6º, Oldrich Kovarik Jnr/Marek Kapic (Skoda Favorit 136L), a 2.38.0
7º, Lukas Schindelegger/Helmut Schindelegger (Ford Escort RS 2000 MKII), a 2.46.2
8º, Nikolaos Pavlidis/Dimitrios Amaxopoulos (Fiat 131 Abarth), a 2.55.0
9º, Siegfried Mayr/Renate Mayr (Volvo 240), a 3.03.9
10º, Manel Arroyo Perez/Miquel Amblas Madriguera (Porsche 911), a 3.12.7
Filipe Madureira, in a Nissan Micra 1.3, continued to be the fastest in the Portuguese Rally Cup event, maintaining a comfortable margin (29.1s) over José Cruz (Porsche 928 S). Moving into third place is António Pinto dos Santos (Renault 4L), who benefited from mechanical problems with Aníbal Rolo's Datsun 1200.
HISTORIC RALLY FAFE – SCHEDULE
SATURDAY (11 abril)
Partida (Feira Velha) 09h30
Parque de Assistência (Praça das Comunidades) 09h37/09H52
PEC 7 – Seixoso 1 (9,97 km) 10h45
PEC 8 – Montim 1 (8,63 km) 11h38
PEC 9 – Lameirinha (14,9 km) 12h06
Reagrupamento (Feira Velha) 12h51/13h01
Parque de Assistência (Praça das Comunidades) 13h08/13h38
PEC 10 – Seixoso 2 14h31
PEC 11 – Montim 2 15h24
PEC 12 – Lameirinha 2 15h52
Parque Fechado (Praça das Comunidades) 16h37
HISTORIC RALLY FAFE – SCHEDULE
FRIDAY (10 abril)
Partida (Câmara Municipal de Fafe) 09h30
Parque de Assistência (Praça das Comunidades) 09h37/09h52
PEC 1 – Santa Quitéria 1 (9,10 km) 10h40
PEC 2 – S. Pedro 1 (7,62 km) 11h43
PEC 3 – Aboim/Luílhas 1 (17,85 km) 12h36
Reagrupamento (Feira Velha) 13h36/13h46
Parque de Assistência (Praça das Comunidades) 13h52/14h20
PEC 4 – Santa Quitéria 2 15h10
PEC 5 – S. Pedro 2 16h13
PEC 6 – Aboim/Luílhas 2 17h06
Parque de Assistência (Praça das Comunidades) 18h06/18h51
Parque Fechado (Feira Velha) 18h59
SATURDAY (11 abril)
Partida (Feira Velha) 09h30
Parque de Assistência (Praça das Comunidades) 09h37/09H52
PEC 7 – Seixoso 1 (9,97 km) 10h45
PEC 8 – Montim 1 (8,63 km) 11h38
PEC 9 – Lameirinha (14,9 km) 12h06
Reagrupamento (Feira Velha) 12h51/13h01
Parque de Assistência (Praça das Comunidades) 13h08/13h38
PEC 10 – Seixoso 2 14h31
PEC 11 – Montim 2 15h24
PEC 12 – Lameirinha 2 15h52
Parque Fechado (Praça das Comunidades) 16h37
