A dry day in Asturias saw the no2 Audi quattro of ‘Zippo’ and Denis Piceno leading by 8.1 seconds at the end of the first leg of the Rally de Asturias Historico. The Italians, who are currently leading the Category 3 Championship, are chasing their fifth category victory in 2021.
Second overall is the Category 3 Ford Escort of Jesus Ferreiro and Javier Anido, 1m41s ahead of the no1 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4 of Daniel Alonso and Adrian Perez who are leading Category 4. The Ford Sierra was suffering power loss with a blown turbo at the end of the day
The overnight leader in Category 2 is Ernie and Karen Graham in the no5 Ford Escort RS1800 in 4th overall. The no6 Porsche 911 Carrera RS of Paolo Pasutti and Giovanni Campeis was leading Category 2 after the first three stages but mechanical issues dropped the Italians down the order.
The Category 4 Subaru Legacy 2.0 Turbo 4WD of Antonio Sainz and David De La Puente finished the day in 5th overall and second in Category 4 after suffering throttle and power issues.
James Potter and Michael Johnston in the no7 Ford Escort MK1 were 6th overall and second in Category 2, while the no8 Chrysler Sunbeam of Tim and Steve Jones were 7th and third in Category 3.
The no9 VW 1300S of James Calvert and James O’Brien retired on stage 1 with a broken crankshaft.
Day 2 of the Rally de Asturias Historico will feature seven more stages, beginning at 11h17 (CEST) tomorrow morning.