ERC – Azores Rally begins this evening

The 5th round of theERC opens today with three stages contested from 18:49 p.m. (French time). Leader of the championship with 29 points ahead of his closest pursuer, the Finn Esapekka Lappi is skipping this 5th round, which could leave the field open to his runner-up, the Irish Craig Breen. 55 crews will start the 17 special stages (8 will be contested tomorrow and 6 Saturday) on gravel interspersed with asphalt sections, for a little over 218 km.

In the absence of official Skodas, the Peugeot 208 T16 of Craig Breen and Kevin Abbring will be favorites, the first named having already won at the Acropolis at the end of March. The Fiesta R5s of the Portuguese Moura and the Polish Kajetanowicz as well as the Fiesta S2000 of the Russian Gryazin will constitute the main opposition, without forgetting the “old” Peugeot 207 S2000s driven by the French Robert Consani and Jean-Michel Raoux. The Peugeot Rally Academy will also be represented by Stéphane Lefebvre (Peugeot 208 R2), who will aim to counter the Czech Jan Cerny, winner of the first two rounds in the Junior championship.