Pardo leads damp Catalunya shakedown

On a damp road following rain showers in the region, crews tackled the 4.21km Coll de La Teixeta warm-up enthusiastically but with a hint of caution, well aware that with 14 stages totalling 235.52km ahead of them over the next two days, this weekend’s Catalan contest is the longest of the season. 

Buoyed by his title triumph, Llarena was fastest out-of-the-blocks on the first run, before team-mate Pardo moved to the top of the order on the second pass and then lowered his own benchmark again with his third effort, which would not subsequently be beaten.

Llarena wound up just over two seconds behind his fellow Spaniard, and a mere three tenths-of-a-second ahead of Yoann Bonato – the Frenchman making his fourth appearance of the year, having reached the rostrum two times out of three so far in 2022.

Martin László narrowly pipped Alberto Battistolli for fourth, with Andrea Mabellini the quickest of the ERC4 runners and sixth overall, as the Italian bids to overturn Óscar Palomo’s 14-point advantage at the summit of the standings to steal the trophy.

The competitive action gets underway tomorrow (Friday), with the opening stage – Els Omells - Maldà 1 – getting underway at 10:23 CET.

RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada Shakedown Times