José Antonio Suárez became the first Spaniard in four years to win in the FIA European Rally Championship after a highly impressive victory on his home event.
Kicking off the 74th ERC season with his maiden triumph in the series, Suárez won 43rd Andalusia Rally – Sierra Morena – Córdoba World Heritage Site by 20.1 seconds as Iván Ares edged a thrilling battle for second place.
Driving a Michelin-equipped Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 for the Spanish Recalvi Team, Friday’s Qualifying Stage winner moved into the lead on Saturday’s opening test and never looked back. With Alberto Iglesias alongside, Suárez banked five stage wins for a weekend haul of 30 points.
“It feels amazing,” said Suárez, who completed leg one leading by 21.6 seconds. “When I was a child, my dream was to one day drive a rally car, now it’s much more than what I dreamed when I was younger, I’m so happy. It was a proper rally without mistakes, stages with good rhythm but nothing crazy, there was no need to push today. With experience I stopped thinking before the rally what could happen, I was just flowing with what was happening during the race.”
Giandomenico Basso was on course to finish in second place aboard his Pirelli-shod Fabia following a flat-out charge through SS12. But a 10-second penalty, applied for a chicane infringement on SS10, dropped him to fourth behind Ares and Teemu Suninen, who took third. Although he missed out on a podium finish by 6.6 seconds, double ERC champion Basso topped the Master ERC ranking.
“I’m very satisfied and it was very nice coming back to the ERC,” said Basso. “It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to compete again with these drivers but they pushed a lot and the level was very tight. I’m happy for the race we did.”
Ares was 6.4 seconds in front of Basso on Saturday night, but a scare on the first corner of the second stage on Sunday morning followed by a contender for save of the season – a two-wheel moment on the first stage of the afternoon loop – looked to have proved costly for the Spaniard until Basso’s late demotion.
Suninen began leg two trailing Basso, then in third, by 2.9 seconds with his efforts to close the gap hampered by a deflating front-right tyre through SS8. The Racing Factory driver rebounded in style with his first ERC stage best on SS10 and took third.
“We have some things to improve but I must say a big thank you to the team,” said Suninen, who was tackling his first Tarmac event in three years. “Of course, it was important to bring the car home and gain some good experience and the stage win was great belief for me that I could be really close to the local heroes.”
Two-time Spanish Tarmac champion Jorge Cagiao finished fifth, with Andrea Mabellini marking Lancia’s return to the ERC’s top tier for the first time since 1993 in sixth. The Italian also continued his impressive Power Stage form by going quickest on the final test for five bonus points.
British champion William Creighton, who came within 0.1 seconds of winning SS10 on his ERC1 debut, finished seventh followed by Polish title winner Jakub Matulka.
Dominik Stříteský, the winner of Friday evening’s super special stage, began leg two with an impressive fastest time through SS8. He survived a sideways moment on SS12 to finish ninth as Marco Bulacia beat Junior ERC graduate Tuukka Kauppinen to 10th place.
Reigning ERC champion Miko Marczyk crashed out on stage three but restarted on Sunday scored two points for going fourth fastest on the Power Stage.
