ERC – Sousa and Abbring don’t let each other go

After a second stage which wreaked havoc on the peloton yesterday, the third and final stage of this Rally of the Azores focused around the duel for the lead of the event between the Portuguese Bernardo Sousa (Ford Fiesta RRC) and Kevin Abbring (Peugeot 208 T16 R5). If the Dutchman, penalized yesterday for having clocked in late at the end of the day, made up time for the Fiesta in the first ES of the day, engine problems (according to the main person concerned) slowed down the progress of the Lioness and allowed Bernardo Sousa to to be 19″1 ahead at the end of the Grupo Marques Super-Special.

In third position, Vasily Gryazin and his Ford Fiesta S2000 are alone, more than 2′ from the leading duo but almost 3′ ahead of the Peugeot 207 S2000 of Jean-Michel Raoux. Robert COnsani is in 9th position in the sister car. In the Junior category, Stéphane Lefebvre and his Peugeot 208 R2 have had an almost perfect run so far. The Frenchman also dominates the Two-Wheel Drive category.

There are still three stages to go before the finish this evening.