Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota Celica ST185) delivered a flawless performance on Saturday morning, during the first half of the second and final leg of the Historic Rally Fafe, extending his lead over second-placed Valter Pierangioli (Ford Sierra Cosworth 4×4) to 3m55.4s. On the opening runs through the Várzea/Cova, Queimadela/Travassós, and Vila Cova stages, the Finnish Toyota driver continued to outpace his rivals by a wide margin and now stands on the verge of securing the overall title at this season-ending round of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship (EHRC).
Right at the start of the day, the duo Rui Madeira and Nuno Rodrigues da Silva, in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III, who had been running in sixth place, were forced to retire due to a mechanical issue (transmission failure) that prevented them from completing the opening stage.
The main point of interest on a sunny, rain-free morning was the battle between Pierangioli and Lubiak, separated by a small margin. With the improved road conditions, Lubiak never gave up hope of moving up a position—leaving only Latvala ahead of him. However, the Italian driver in the Ford Sierra remained consistently fast and gave his rival no opportunity to close in. Meanwhile, Lubiak had to stay alert, as Frenchman Richard Genesca (Subaru Legacy RS) was closing the gap from behind.
In the Portuguese Classics Cup, Rui Ribeiro (Ford Escort MK2) continues to lead, now clearly ahead of Armando Marques (Toyota Starlet) and César Freitas (Ford Escort MK1).
Classificação após PEC 9
1º, Jari-Matti Latvala/Topi Luhtinen (Toyota Celica ST 185), 1h01m31,4s
2º, Valter Pierangioli/Michela Baldini (Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4), a 3m55,4s
3º, Maciej Lubiak/Grzegorz Dachowski (Porsche 911 2.7 RS), a 4.06.9
4º, Richard Genesca/Florent Sompayrac (Subaru Legacy RS), a 4.22.9
5º, Jesus Ferreiro Pérez/Javier Anido (Ford Escort RS 1800), a 5.18.1
6º, Will Graham/Karen Graham (BMW E30 M3), a 6.23.9
7º, Hervé Guignard/Jean-Jacques Collinet (Alpine A 310), a 7.42.0
8º, Gregory McCormack/Rhodri Evans (Ford Escort RS 1800), a 8.03.6
9º, Ernie Graham/Anna Graham (Ford Escort Escort RS 1800), a 8.11.0
10º, Eric Guignard/Didier Mefre (Renault 5 Turbo Cevennes), a 9.56.9
11º, Fintan McGrady/Dean Beckett (Ford Escort RS 1800), a 12.02.4
12º, Siegfried Mayr/Renate Mayr (Volvo 240), a 17.18.7
13º, Antonio Parisi/Giuseppe Dangelo (Porsche 911S), a 20.22.1
14º, Carlo Fiorito/Nicolo Ventoso (BMW 2002 Ti), a 26.27.7
Fafe/08/novembro/2025
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