Iván Ares could not become the milestone winning the Rally Princess of Asturias Rally-Ciudad de Oviedo for the third time in a row. The Galician driver has been eclipsed by José Antonio Suárez Cohete who imposed his pace from the very beginning using a good strategy. Cohete has been fast but, at the same time, cautious. In the final part of this 55th edition, with the victory almost ni his hands , he did not forget about Ares, who had made improvements in the car and felt very comfortable. The Asturian did not want to take unnecessary risks and make a mistake. The final difference between them was only 00: 32,800. The third was Dani Solá, who was returning to the Spanish Asphalt Rally Championship (CERA). Last year he had competed in the GR One legend category and now he achieved the third best time.
Ares has preferred to secure the points for his leadership in the CERA than a fight with Cohete. Miguel Fuster was left out in the last special stage of Friday what help the Galician. Cohete, in the third place of the classification until that moment, took advatage of it.
Oscar Palacio and Surhayen Pernía have liven up the competition with their fight for the fourth place. The scratch of the Oviedo-Uvieu international stage has not been enough for Pernía. Palacio won the duel as he was 00: 18,800 faster.
Championship of Asturias
The Asturias Championship has also had a clear leader this year: Oscar Palacio. His total time has been 01: 20: 34.200. The podium is completed by Yonatan Pérez and Daniel Alonso, who has gone from lowest to highest.
Other cups
The team formed by Víctor Magariños and Carlos Asorey, at the wheel of a BMW M3 E30, has won the GR A Legend Rally, one of the cups that have awakened more interest. Jesús Fernandez and his co-driver José Manuel García, in a Subaru Impreza WRC, only at 00: 01.300, got the second place. The podium was completed by another BMW M3 E30, piloted by José María Martínez and co-piloted by Luka Larrosa.
The Junior R2 Scholarship has had another clear dominator: Jan Solans. On board his Peugeot 208 VTI R2, and with Mauro Barreiro as co-driver, he set a total time of 1:56:23.300, followed by José María González and his co-driver, José Vázquez with the same car. The third team was formed by Josep Bassas and Manuel Muñoz, also with a Peugeot 208 VTI R2.
Francisco Javier Beteta has won the Dacia Sandero Rally Cup, with a time of 02:25:27.600, with Úrsula Rodas as co-driver. And in the NMC RMC Cup the winners were Efren Llanera, at the wheel of Peugeot 308 N5, with Sara Fernández as co-driver.
An accessible rally
The public has really enjoyed this 55th edition of the rally. The sections have been full of fans, encouraged by the luxury registration of the event, the good weather and the chosen stages. The international Oviedo-Uvieu is on the way to becoming a classic, as well as Llanera or Siero, which have become two of the favourites in this 2018. The Fan Zone installed near the circuit of Oviedo by the Royal Federation Española de Automovilismo has been an extra incentive to enjoy the rally as a family.
Those who have not had the luck to attend live have been able to follow the evolutions of the pilots in different ways, through the live broadcast of Radio Marca or also the web and the mobile application available for Android and Apple. The app is already on the screens of more than 16,000 users. In addition, it has reached the number two in Google Play.