Basso dominates Peugeot

Kris Meeke wanted to take advantage of the absence of the Skoda Fabia S2000 to score important points and take the lead in the IRC championship. For the moment, the Briton is far from his goals. From the start of the day, Giandomenico Basso (Abarth Grande Punto S2000) was able to distance himself, widening the gap a little more with each special stage.

Sixth on Thursday evening in the first special, the Italian started the day on Friday with a flawless performance. Basso thus achieved the scratch time in SS2, ES3, ES4, ES5, ES6 and ES7. Third on SS8, less than a second behind Bruno Magalhaes (Peugeot 207 S2000), Basso was able to resume his march forward, with scratch times during SS9 and SS10.

The only one to have managed to steal a scratch time from him during the day, Bruno Magalhaes, is already relegated to almost 20 seconds at the end of SS10. As for Kris Meeke, he is only sixth and is more than a minute (+1?05??3) behind the leader. As for the Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz, he is in fourth place, 45 seconds behind Basso.

But the Rally of Madeira Wines, which has 21 special events on the program, is far from finished. The Peugeot 207 S2000s of Magalhaes and Camacho, who are racing at home, are in ambush on the second and third steps of the podium. A little further on, the Kronos drivers are trying not to lose too much ground. Nicolas Vouilloz, Kris Meeke and Freddy Loix will try to close the gap in the evening, before tackling the last day of the Rally, Saturday.