RALLY ISLAS CANARIAS

Replacing Rally Principe de Asturias, Rally Islas Canarias will take place from April 30th to May 1st on the asphalt of Las Palmas. If these roads of low altitude (between 500 and 800 meters) will not affect the engine power, however, most drivers will discover the stages for the first time as last month with Rally Argentina. A new challenge for Kris Meeke in the title race already relegated at 14 points behind the leader Juho Hanninen before the start of this fourth round.

Friday, April 30
Stages Distance Location Start
SS 1 8,61 km Moya 09:00
SS 2 24,85 km Fontanales 09:22
SS 3 11,83 km Teror 10:20
SS 4 8,61 km Moya 12:55
SS 5 24,85 km Fontanales 13:17
SS 6 11,83 km Teror 14:15
SS 7 8,92 km Era del Cardon 17:33
SS 8 29,95 km Ingenio 17:55
SS 9 7,80 km La atalaya de Santa Brigida 19:03

Saturday, May 1
Stages Distance Location Start
SS 10 7,80 km Santa Brigida 08:48
SS 11 25,26 km Telde 09:28
SS 12 9,11 km Agumes 10:23
SS 13 7,80 km Santa Brigida 12:54
SS 14 25,26 km Telde 13:34
SS 15 9,11 km Agumes 14:29

Total rally : 221,59 km

Entry list on Peugeot 207 Super 2000
- Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle
- Bruno Magalhaes / Carlos Magalhaes
- Daniel R. Oliveira / Carlos Del Barrio
- Franz Wittmann / Klaus Wicha
- Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Klinger
- Victor Sa / Nuno Rodriguez

Standings drivers
1 Juho Hanninen : 24 points
2 Guy Wilks : 19
3 Jan Kopecky : 15
4 Mikko Hirvonen : 10
5 Kris Meeke : 10
6 Bruno Magalhaes : 9

Standings manufacturers
1 Škoda : 46 points
2 Peugeot : 24
3 M-Sport : 14
4 Ralliart : 6
5 Subaru : 5

TV coverage : Eurosport
Friday, april 30 :
23:00-23:30 (highlight day 1)
Saturday, May 1 :
08:30-09:00 (highlight day 1)
23:00-23:30 (highlight day 2)

TV coverage : Eurosport Asia-Pacific
Saturday, May 1 :
24:30-25:00 (highlight day 1)
25:00-25:30 (highlight day 2)

NEW TERRITORY FOR THE PEUGEOT 207 S2000
The 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge’s fourth port of call is the Rally Islas Canarias (Gran Canaria) which has stepped in to replace the Rally Principe de Asturias as the Spanish round of the Eurosport-initiated competition. The island’s stages will be totally new for all the series’ front-runners, with the exception of the local specialists.

A new challenge for Kris Meeke

"My father attended the event several times in the days when he prepared rally cars," recalls Kris Meeke. "The island is quite mountainous, but the asphalt is generally of a very high quality. The roads tend to be clean, but the opportunities to cut corners are inexistent." That won’t prevent the Briton from giving it his very best shot, however. "The main thing will be to have a car with extremely precise handling," notes the Peugeot UK driver. "That will be our aim when we go testing on Monday, April 26. The run will hopefully enable me to fine-tune the set-up of my 207 Super 2000 with that in mind."

Six rounds IRC for Thierry Neuville with Peugot-Belgique Luxmbourg

Thierry Neuville is also due to take part in Monday’s test, although his objective will not be the same, since the young Belgian hasn’t driven the 207 S2000 since last June’s Belgian Ypres Rally. The Rally Islas Canarias will be the first of a six-round IRC programme that he and Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg have put together for the coming season. "My overriding goal will be to get as many kilometres under my belt as I can," he says. "In all my life, the only experience I have ever had of driving such a powerful and competitive car amounts to no more than four stages. I’ve got a great deal to learn, and I want to take things step by step. I will be making my new debut with Peugeot in the Canary Islands and I haven’t set myself any targets with regard to my finish position."

Bruno Magalhaès looking for a podium

Bruno Magalhaes, who relishes the prospect of contesting an event that is unknown territory for all his rivals, travels to the Spanish archipelago in a very different frame of mind. This time, it will be different to the first three rounds of the 2010 IRC, since I won’t be at a disadvantage experience-wise," observes the Peugeot Portugal driver. "I intend to make the most of that to try to score my first top result of the season. A podium finish would be great."

There is every chance that Bruno’s principal opponents will include Kris Meeke who is also hoping for strong weekend: "So far in this year’s IRC, I’ve only finished once, and retired twice. That series has got to stop. I absolutely need to make it to the finish, and quite high up the order, too, so that I can get some big points in the bank. A top-three result would be perfect. And if I manage to finish in front of those who are currently ahead of me in the provisional Drivers’ standings, then that would be icing on the cake," smiles the Ulsterman.

KRIS MEEKE KNOCKED BACK FROM EARLY LEAD
Claiming nine stage wins from a possible 14 isn’t always a guarantee of victory, as the reigning IRC champ Kris Meeke found out to his cost on last weekend’s Rally Islas Canarias. The Peugeot 207 Super 2000 driver dominated the event but dropped two minutes after picking up a puncture and had to settle for fourth spot, just ahead of Bruno Magalhaes in another 207 S2000.

A flying start for Kris Meeke

The IRC has an excellent habit of visiting countries where rallying is both highly popular and recognised as a sport in its own right. This, indeed, is the case in Spain’s Canary Islands where the Rally Islas Canarias was this year organised for the 34th time. And the crowds were so impressive that one could be forgiven for thinking that the island’s entire population had turned out to watch the mountainous asphalt stages. This year’s event was an even grander occasion than usual for them, since the field was led by the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge’s main contenders, including the defending champion Kris Meeke. The Briton appeared at the top of the leaderboard after SS1 and then profited from the first seven stages to post five fastest times and pull gradually clear.

"My Peugeot 207 Super 2000 is incredibly stable and perfectly balanced. I feel very confident and I’m having no trouble pushing either myself or the car to the limit." Meeke’s lead after SS7 amounted to 17.9s over Kopecky, 22.6s over Hänninen and 44.2s over Wilks. Soon afterwards, however, shortly after the start of the day’s final test, SS8, the chances of the Ulsterman were dealt a serious blow. "I suddenly felt a knock while I was driving through a flat-out corner and my front-left tyre immediately lost all its air. There were still 25km to go, and I finished without stopping to change the wheel." The incident saw Kris lose two minutes which dropped him to sixth overall and forced him to do all the chasing on the second and final day. A further harvest of four fastest times from a possible six on Leg 2 enabled the Peugeot UK driver to claim the weekend’s highest number of stage wins. It also helped him fight his way back to fourth place to bag five championship points. "It wasn’t exactly the result I was targeting here," he admitted, "but these points could come in very useful at the end of the year."



Bruno Magalhaès on top form, but unlucky

Meeke was followed home in the final order by Bruno Magalhaes who secured a fourth consecutive points finish. "I think a podium finish would have been on the cards," notes the Peugeot Portugal driver, "if a drive shaft hadn’t popped out at the start of SS3. That cost me 25 seconds and obviously had a big influence on my result. A little later on, I threw away a bit more time on the high altitude stage."

The good run of Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg’s youngster Thierry Neuville thwarted

Peugeot’s third man in the Canary Islands was less fortunate still. Thierry Neuville was making his debut in the Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg 207 Super 2000 and was running in a satisfactory seventh place until he was halted in his tracks by an off on the penultimate stage. "I don’t know what happened exactly. I had nothing to gain by pushing hard, so I decided to lift until the finish in order to make sure of scoring my team’s first points. Perhaps that led to a drop in concentration? The fact is that I understeered and hit a rock. The car was undamaged but the impact broke a suspension arm. I only have myself to blame for the incident; I feel really bad about it."

Peugeot continues to figure in second place in the IRC’s provisional Manufacturers’ championship standings.
Meeke is still fourth in the Drivers’ points table, while Magalhaes has climbed to fifth.

Next round : Rally d'Italia Sardegna (June, 4-6)

Final positions of Rally Islas Canarias :

1. Kopecky-Stary Skoda Fabia S2000 in 2h12mn27s4
2. Hanninen-Markkula Skoda Fabia S2000 at 9s1
3. Wilks-Pugh Skoda Fabia S2000 at 36s4
4. Meeke-Nagle Peugeot 207 S2000 at 1mn05s5
5. Magalhaès-Magalhaès Peugeot 207S2000 at 1mn17s8
6. Hevia-Iglesias Skoda Fabia S2000 at 2mn25s1