With a spectacular 48th edition, the Rally Islas Canarias aims to say goodbye, at least for two years, to the European Rally Championship (ERC) and enter through the front door of the World Championship (WRC)for which it will be valid in 2025 and 2026 in a historic event for Canarian sports and, especially, for Spanish and island motorsport.
The cover letter of the event for 2024 could not be more attractive, with the first swords of the European Championship, the Spanish Super Championship and the local competitions on stage. And all this with the massive presence in the gutters of the understanding and dedicated Gran Canaria fans.
On Wednesday night, hundreds of fans of four-wheeled sports already demonstrated their desire to see the drivers and their mounts live. It happened during the formal start ceremony, in which the organization of the Canary Islands Rally wanted to make a nod to history. The event took place in the Mesa and López area. The event returned to its origins in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria after almost four decades of absence, when El Corte Inglés gave its name to the race.
After that event, this Thursday the Rally Islas Canarias begins to experience the preview of the two powerful days of the program, which take place between tomorrow and Saturday with the celebration of the bulk of the 13 sections planned.
Starting ceremony of the Canary Islands Rally / José Carlos Guerra / LPR
After several days of testing, the participating teams worked hard to reconnoiter a good part of the special stages, and at night they did the same in the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria stage, which takes place this Thursday, starting at 8:35 p.m. , in the Siete Palmas area. Of 1.8 kilometers of routethe participants enter, for the second consecutive year, into the main court of a packed Gran Canaria Arena, since the invitations to sit in the stands of the facility were sold out.
But before reaching this point, the formations that make up the long list of entries for the Canary Islands Rally take over the Cenobio de Valerón area, in Santa María de Guía, where the first official events of the race take place. From 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. the timed section takes place prior to the start of the competition, in which the fastest teams are defined and subsequently select their starting order.
Before, a free practice session is held to get in touch with the terrain, emulating the dispute for pole position in circuit competitions. At the conclusion of the international section, the rest of those registered can carry out, in the same section, their shakedown to finalize details on your frames.
Top-notch cast
The 48th edition of the Canary Islands Rally has nearly a hundred teams registered, a list that does not lack the most notable of these recent seasons. A total of 20 nationalities are represented, which underlines the international accent of the test.
Starting ceremony of the Canary Islands Rally / José Carlos Guerra / LPR
A total of 74 formations participate with vehicles registered under FIA regulations. A total of 33 correspond to the premier category (Rally2), 30 to Rally4, in addition to a couple of Rally3 and six Rally5, among others. Furthermore, the fans will surely vibrate with the first swords of the Super championship of Spain and the Canary Islands Championship.
Among the favorites, a priori, to beat in the European Championship section are the current champion, Hayden Paddon; the current leader of the continental competition after the first event held in Hungary, Simone Tempestini; the last winner of the Gran Canaria event, Yoann Bonato; or the four-time winner of the Canary Islands who is looking for the record of victories to equal the myth Carlos Sainz in the record, the Russian Alexey Lukyanuk.
As for Nacional, note the presence of the current champion, José Antonio Cohete Suárez; the last regional champion, Miguel Suárez, and the first place finisher of this season’s Regional, Yeray Lemes. The latter are joined by locals such as veteran Luis Monzón, who returns to the Gran Canaria event after his last presence in 2022 when he was close to victoryEnrique Cruz, the young Raúl Hernández, Sergio Fuentes, Julio Martínez or Raúl Quesada, among others.
Without a doubt, the 48th edition presents everything necessary to enjoy three intense days of top-level motorsport. Surely, it will be a great calling card for the 2025 and 2026 World Cup.
2024-05-01 22:01:21
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