Rossetti starts first on Friday in Madeira

With competitors starting in number order, Luca Rossetti will lead the 46 crews over the opening stages of Friday’s first leg of Rali Vinho Madeira, round eight of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

The Italian, who has competed on the event on two occasions in the past, will drive a Procar-run Abarth Grande Punto as he makes his first start in the IRC this season.

He said: “I am really happy to come back in IRC, especially in Madeira. I like too much this place and especially the rally. In the past I wasn’t lucky enough because I made a mistake last year and two years ago it was my first time here. My target here will be a podium but I know it will be very difficult because there are a lot of good drivers with good teams.”

Rossetti confirmed at Friday’s first service that the clutch problem he suffered in shakedown has been rectified.

There are 12 stages on Friday with the first test, the 15.99-kilometre Campo de Golfe stage getting underway at 09:01hrs local time.

Top 10 IRC starting positions for leg one, section two:

1 Luca Rossetti (Abarth Grande Punto S2000)
2 Juho Hänninen (Škoda Fabia S2000)
3 Kris Meeke (Peugeot 207 S2000)
4 Corrado Fontana (Peugeot 207 S2000)
5 Marco Tempestini (Peugeot 207 S2000)
6 Jan Kopecký (Škoda Fabia S2000)
7 Bruno Magalhães (Peugeot 207 S2000)
8 Bernardo Sousa (M-Sport Fiesta S2000)
9 Freddy Loix (Škoda Fabia S2000)
10 Vitor Pascoal (Peugeot 207 S2000)