Alberto Battistolli surprise winner of Liepaja qualification

While Nil Solans, Efren Llarena and Hayden Paddon were expected, it was ultimately the 25-year-old Italian hopeful who set the best time in his Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. Alberto was surprised at the finish because he had been hampered by a turbo valve problem. The son of Luigi (“Lucky”) Battistolli will therefore be able to decide first the rank he wishes to occupy tomorrow at the start of the first day. He won ahead of the little-known Lithuanian Vaidotas Zala (Fabia) and Hayden Paddon who obviously did not need many kilometers to familiarize himself with his new Hyundai i20 Rally2. Among the favorites, Solans only took 5^e place, Ton Kristensson the (6^e), Efren Llarena

(8^e) and Ken Torn (9^is). For his return to ERC, Yoann Bonato settled for a 10^e time with the only C3 Rally2 classified in the top 12. The 20 competitors who had been invited to this qualifying stage will reveal their decision, but Battistolli should take advantage of his success to start late and thus benefit from the sweep. The serious things will start tomorrow with 6 SS and 85,94 km timed.

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