After a brilliant performance, Javier Pardo and Adrián Pérez had to withdraw from the rally after suffering two consecutive punctures in the same section.
The first stage of the rally had ended with a remarkable fifth position in the general classification, after a complicated day in which the team was able to keep always with a high pace in the leading positions. The difference between the main candidates for the ERC and also for the S-CER was minimal, so anything was possible in the final stage.
Saturday’s weather was changeable and with a high probability of rain in the area of the stages. In the first section, the Hyundai i20N Rally 2 of the Galician team achieved a good result among a pack that grouped up to a dozen participants in a margin of five seconds.
Next, the longest section of the rally, with almost twenty-eight kilometers, could be decisive. In addition to its length, it had several sections with rain and fog, which increased the difficulty. Javier had a very good pace and was getting good partials, but in the last eight kilometers came the bad news. First he got a flat tire when passing over a stone that was on the road. They stopped and changed it in the middle of the stage losing little time, but a few kilometers later a small riding error meant a new puncture. And although he managed to reach the end of the section, he did not have a new tire to face the remaining section. Thus, the end of the rally came for Javier and Adrian.
Therefore, a lost opportunity to continue leading the S-CER, but the maximum illusion put in the next test: the Rallye de Ourense.
