Miguel Nunes, teaming up with João Paulo Fernandes, is the winner of the 67th edition of Rali da Madeira, organised by Club Sports da Madeira and held between 30th July and 1st August. The Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver took the lead on the morning of the second of the three days of competition and never relinquished it, finishing 31.3 seconds ahead of his closest rivals. João Silva, in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, briefly moved into third place but spent most of the time in second position, behind several rivals, where he finished the event.
Armindo Araújo, also in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, was at one point in contention for second place overall but ultimately focused on the national championship standings, a competition in which he secured the points equivalent to a victory. Miguel Caires, in an identical car, put in a steadily improving performance and finished the rally in fourth place after overtaking Rúben Rodrigues, a driver who had done well in Madeira to defend his lead in the CPR. The top ten finishers also included Pedro Almeida, Ricardo Teodósio, Hugo Lopes, Pedro Meireles and Diogo Marujo.
Winner of the last two editions of the rally, Spain’s Diego Ruiloba was never able to get the best out of his Citroën C3 Rally2 and finished outside the top ten, whilst Britain’s Kris Meeke, chasing his first victory on the island, lost a great deal of time due to the aftermath of a collision on the opening special stage of the second day of competition. With his Toyota GR Yaris now repaired, he failed to win just one of the timed stages. A four-time winner of the event, the Italian Giandomenico Basso was in the lead but was forced to retire due to a fractured vertebra sustained on the ‘landing’ of a jump in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
