Kris Meeke, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, is the early leader of the 67^th edition of Rali da Madeira, which is taking place this weekend. The Briton completed the Funchal City super special stage in 1:34.4—nine-tenths of a second faster than local driver João Silva, who is driving a car identical to the leader's. Silva's rival in the regional championship, Miguel Nunes, sits in third place in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, three-tenths of a second behind his main adversary.

Fourth place is held by Spaniard Diego Ruiloba—winner of the last two editions of the event in a Citroën C3 Rally2—trailing the leader by 1.3 seconds. Rounding out the top five is Italian driver Giandomenico Basso in another Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, 1.5 seconds off the pace. Also appearing in the top ten are Alexandre Camacho, Armindo Araújo, and Miguel Caires—all in Skoda Fabia RS Rally2s—along with Guilherme Meireles (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) and Rúben Rodrigues (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2).

Gil Freitas, driving an Alpine A110 RGT+, leads the RGT class competitors, while Rafael Cardeira (Peugeot 208 Rally4) heads the field of front-wheel-drive cars, followed by Tiago Nunes (Renault Clio Rally4) and João Rodrigues (another Peugeot 208 Rally4).

Rali da Madeira returns to action tomorrow to complete the remainder of the first leg, featuring two passes each through Santo da Serra (09:15 and 12:55), Palheiro Ferreiro (10:00 and 13:40), and Santana (16:50 and 19:10), with a run through Ribeiro Frio (18:05) interspersed between them. Along the way, the caravan will visit the service park in Funchal—on Avenida Sá Carneiro—four times: at 08:10, 11:35, 15:15, and 20:28.