Andalusia Rally – Sébastien Loeb on the pace in the Prologue

Le Rally of Andalusia (Spain) began this Wednesday October 19 with a qualifying special of 9,6 km near Two Sisters, the nerve center of the final of the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC).

In the province of Seville, the favorites for the title are Nasser Al-Attiyah-Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) and Sébastien Loeb-Fabian Lurquin (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) took advantage of this prologue to gauge themselves. It was the Franco-Belgian crew which took a slight advantage, more symbolic than anything else, with the best time.

Scrutiny all done so now we're all clear for Stage 1A 🔜 this afternoon.#TeamBahrain 🇧🇭@Andalucia_Rally @OfficialW2RC @prodrive pic.twitter.com/ST1BoqW8FG

- Bahrain Raid Xtreme (@BRaidXtreme) October 19, 2022

“We attacked well, said the nine-time world rally champion, who is 20 points behind Al-Attiyah before this final round of the W2RC. As it was also the reconnaissance course carried out earlier in the week, it looked more like a special WRC.

I was able to attack from start to finish as I wanted. It's an ideal start but the real stages arrive tomorrow. » Indeed, stage 1 will include a selective sector of 148 kilometers traced in the Andalusian countryside.

W2RC leaders Al-Attiyah-Baumel initially finished five seconds behind their opponents (see table below) but received a one-minute penalty for excessive speed in a restricted zone. The Qatari driver drops to eighth place in the general classification.

The provisional podium is therefore occupied this Wednesday evening by Yazeed Al-Rajhi-Dirk Von Zitzewitz (Toyota, +17'') and the winners of the last Rally of Morocco, Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq (GCK Hunter, +31'').

Ranking Rally of Andalusia 2022 – Prologue: