Magalhães rues bad luck on Gran Canaria

Bruno Magalhães believes the transmission problem that struck his Peugeot 207 on stage three of Rally Islas Canarias has cost him a certain podium finish on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.

The Peugeot Sport Portugal driver set the fourth fastest time on the opening two stages of this morning to hold fourth overall only to slip back to sixth place – and 31 seconds off the lead – following his slow run through stage three.

He said: “It happened on the first corner of the third stage. It’s a problem with the differential caused by a loose screw. It was perfect in the beginning but now we have lost a lot of time. I always seem to have bad luck.”

Magalhães also said he dropped a few seconds during the second stage when the oil pressure warning light came on. “I lost some concentration because of that,” said the 29-year-old.