Leading by 0.3sec starting leg two, Bonato
initially looked like he would lose first place to Franceschi when his younger
compatriot posted a faster split time earlier in SS8. But Bonato was ahead at
the finish to edge ahead in the overall classification by 1.6sec aboard his
Michelin-equipped Citroën C3 Rally2.
And it got better for Bonato on SS9, the
27.70km Moya - Valleseco stage, which he competed 2.6sec faster than his rivals
to take an advantage of 4.2sec heading into the final stage of Saturday
morning’s three-stage loop.
Although he could only manage the third
fastest time on the Power Stage rehearsal, the 11.50km San Mateo - Valsequillo
run, Bonato’s lead is 6.9sec heading to service at the Estadio Gran Canaria.
“We take a lot of fun and we continue like
that, the car is perfect, the team works well. It’s a good morning for us,”
Bonato said.
Mathieu Franceschi holds a strong second in
his pursuit for back-to-back ERC podiums. The Michelin-equipped Škoda Fabia RS
Rally2 driver said: “For sure we don’t want to take any risk to win this rally
because the championship is so long.”
Fifth overnight, José Antonio Suárez has
been on a charge this morning in his efforts to secure maximum Spanish
championship points. He demoted closest challenger Diego Ruiloba on SS9,
despite spinning at the roundabout early in the stage, but was beaten by
Ruiloba through SS10 after Ruiloba went quickest of all. It means he falls back
to fifth heading into the afternoon loop.
Hayden Paddon reported bouts of understeer
on SS8 and SS9 in his Pirelli-equipped Hyundai i20 N Rally2. The 2023 ERC
champion holds third but his advantage over Ruiloba has been cut to 2.0sec.
After tyre damage dropped him out of the
lead on day one, Alejandro Cachón has fought his way back to sixth, 5.2sec
behind Suárez. Jon Armstrong, Miko Marczyk, Mads Østberg and Yeray Lemes
complete the overall top 10.
The repeat of the 9.41km Arucas - Firgas is
up next from 14:07.
Finland
Italy
Hungary