Solans battling to continue ERC title fight in Canary Islands

Spaniard Solans began the ERC season with a stylish win at Rally Serras de Fafe - Felgueiras - Cabreira e Boticas but was then unable to land the finance needed to contest the 56th Azores Rallye two weeks later.

And Solans has now been forced to mount another battle to attract the necessary financial support in order to be at the start at Rally Islas Canarias, round three of the season from 12-14 May.

“Right now I don’t have the budget to go to Canary Islands but I’m working really hard to find it although, for the moment, it’s impossible for me to go to this rally,” said Solans, who turned 30 earlier this month. “Everything is booked with the team to join the rally but I still need half of the budget and it’s very difficult to find it. I am talking to people, it looks like we’re not going there but it’s still not closed and I’m fighting to go there.

“Entries are closing next [Tuesday] so we have a few days but it’s not so long and it’s difficult because you have to find companies with this budget. It’s not about doing only the race and that’s all, we need to prepare the car, the stickers, do some agreements so it’s not easy, there is a lot of money to find.”

If Solans can find the money needed then he’ll be one to watch on the all-Tarmac rally. He led on his debut there in 2020 and was a stage winner on his return in 2021.

“For sure if we go there we want to fight for the win,” Solans said. “We know we have potential on the Tarmac, in this rally as well because the driving style is like we have in Spain.”

Entries for Rally Islas Canarias close at 20h00 local time on 26 April.