Difficult second day for Portugual’s Sousa

Bernardo Sousa says the second day of Sata Rallye Açores, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, was one of the most demanding he has experienced during his four-year career in rallying.

Sousa, from Madeira, ran first on the road through all of Friday’s nine stages in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000. Despite setting out for the first stage 11.3s behind overnight leader Juho Hänninen, Sousa reached Friday’s overnight halt 2m23.6s adrift of top spot.

“It was so completely hard, very difficult to keep the line and very difficult to avoid going off,” said the 22-year-old. “I have never experienced anything like this before but I guess it is just part of the experience you have to go through.”

Sousa is making his first appearance in this year’s IRC. He will also tackle the eighth round of the series, Rali Vinho Madeira, next month.