Nunes overjoyed despite podium loss

Miguel Nunes has described his run to fourth place on Rali Vinho Madeira last weekend as a “fantastic result”, despite dropping out of third place in the closing stages of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.

Nunes, at the wheel of a Peugeot 207 Super 2000, inherited the final podium spot from Juho Hänninen when the Finn slid into a brick wall on stage 17 and punctured his Škoda Fabia’s right-rear tyre. However, Nunes was powerless to prevent Hänninen, the IRC title leader, from powering back ahead on the penultimate stage.

Afterwards, Nunes, who hails from Madeira, said: “We are very happy because for us this is a fantastic result. We are a small private team and in front of us are some great pilots and great Škodas.

“Juho was very fast and I knew I could not go as fast as him. We had to think what was most important and that was the Madeira championship. We could not take any risks.”

Nunes’ co-driver Victor Calado admitted afterwards that there was a genuine fear the Portuguese duo would not be able to take the start of the rally after their original engine broke in pre-event testing. Fortunately, the Peugeot Sport Portugal squad came to the rescue by supplying a replacement unit.