EHRC – ‘Zippo’ Leads After Day 1 in Spain

The first day of the Rally de Asturias Historico started with scrutineering and all the 14 EHRC cars passed and were able to take the start in Pravia. In the afternoon, the weather arrived in the hills of Asturias, with low cloud and heavy rain, leaving the drivers a difficult decision as to which tyre choice was best.

At the end of the four stages on Leg 1, “Zippo” and Nicola Arena were leading the overall classification in the Category 3 Audi quattro, ending the day 2:00.07 ahead of Matts Myrsell and Esko Juntila in the Category 4 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4. The Swedish duo are ahead of Spaniards Antonio Sainz and Carlos Riesgo in the n°4 Subaru Legacy Turbo 4WD. 

Category 3 was headed by the overall leader, ‘Zippo’ and Nicola Arena.  The wet conditions suited the Audi quattro and the Italian driver ended the day 6:04.1 ahead of his nearest Category 3 rivals Francisco Casas and Javier Zamora with the n°8 Porsche 911 SC. The Spanish pair are followed by Sir Andrew MacAlpine and Andrew Bull in the n°12 Ferrari 308 GTB Michelotto. 

Italians Paolo Pasutti and Giovanni Campeis in the n°5 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.0 are leading Category 2 at the end of the first day of the Rally de Asturias Historico. In second place is Will Graham and James O’Brien, 6.5s behind the leader and ahead of the Spanish duo of Jesus Eduardo Diez Villarroel and Alejandro Cid Alvarez in the n° 7 Ford Escort RS2000. 

Finally, Category 1 saw a great battle between teammates James Potter and Ernie Graham. For the first time this season, and thanks to a great drive on a slippery track, the driver and co-driver of the n°15 Ford Cortina 1600 GT, James Potter and Caroline McCormack ended the day 48.7 seconds ahead of their teammates, and championship leaders, Ernie and Karen Graham. 

The second and final day of the Rally de Asturias Historico will take place tomorrow from 11:09 and will feature six further stages, starting with the 13.848km ‘Agones’ stage. With dry conditions in the weather forecast, the second leg should provide a very different challenge. 

CLICK HERE to see the result from Leg 1 of the Rally de Asturias Historico.