Rally2/Rally4/Historic Rally: France, Spain and Italy lead after opening loop - livetiming 28.10.2022: The opening loop of official Special Stages kicked off on Friday (28 October) at the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games for Rally2, Rally4 and Historic Rally cars, with Team France, Team Spain and Team Italy leading the way after three stages. Livetiming here

FIA MOTORSPORT GAMES
Paul Ricard Circuit
Friday, October 28th 2022


The opening loop of official Special Stages kicked off on Friday (28 October) at the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games for Rally2, Rally4 and Historic Rally cars, with Team France, Team Spain and Team Italy leading the way after three stages.


Livetiming here



Team France made a scorching start in Rally2. The host nation flew into a 23-second lead after the first three Special Stages, making their intentions clear by racing 14s clear on the first of those in the morning thanks to a mighty performance from Mathieu Arzeno and his co-driver Romain Roche in their Skoda Fabia.



The French duo left behind a close battle for second place, headed by Team Spain’s Jose Maria Lopez / Borja Rozada (Hyundai i20) with Thursday’s pace-setters Team Estonia charging up the order from fifth to third overall with Georg Linnamäe / James Michael Morgan in their nation’s Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.



Team Hungary’s Martin László / David Berendi slotted their Skoda Fabia into fourth place, while an impressive start from Team Argentina and their duo of Paula Soria /Marcelo der Ohannesian put them inside the top five.



Team Germany suffered a puncture during the morning loop that put Björn Satorius / Hanna Ostlender (Ford Fiesta) 1m40s adrift, while Team UK’s charge was hindered by power steering problems for Oliver Mellors / Ian Windress on SS2 in the Proton Iriz, putting them 10th in the general classification.



In the Rally4 running it would by Team Spain at the head of the times after an opening stage win, but coming under increasing pressure from Team Italy who trimmed the lead cushion to four seconds with victory in the following two stages.



A rapid opening stage time courtesy of Team Spain’s Oscar Palomo / Rodrigo Sanjuan put them almost 10s clear initially, but another Peugeot 208 tailed them as Team Italy – fastest in Thursday’s Qualifying Special Stage – slotted into second spot with Roberto Dapra / Luca Guglielmetti, who then trimmed three seconds out of Spanish duo’s lead with victory on SS2 and a further 1.5s on SS3 to keep up their strong momentum.



Third place is held by Team Türkiye’s Ali Turkkan / Ahmet Burak Erdener in their Ford Fiesta, 16s behind and keeping at bay Team Portugal who sit fourth with Ricardo Sousa / Luis Marques in another Peugeot 208, the top five rounded out by Tom Rensonnet / Loic Dumont (Renault Clio).




Historic Rally also kicked off in style with a total of seven spectacular period machines from 1970-1981 tackling the stages. Quickest, as they were on Thursday, were Team Italy’s exciting crew of Andrea ‘Zippo’ Zivian / Nicola Arena in their nostalgic Audi Quattro, eking out a lead of 20s after setting the pace in each of the opening three stages.



Team Czech Republic hold a comfortable second place as Vojtěch Štajf / Vladimir Zelinka continue to give chase in their Opel Kadett, with Team Spain settling into the final medal position in third with Antonio Sainz / David de la Puente 44s behind in their Porsche 911 SC.



Four more Special Stages remain on Friday afternoon, the seventh and final stage of the day taking place at Circuit Paul Ricard.




SRO also photos