Vinyes: IRC 2WD Cup win down to hard work

Joan Vinyes’ second victory in the IRC 2WD Cup on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés in as many seasons was down to plenty of hard work according to the rapid Spaniard.

Vinyes beat his young Suzuki Motor Iberica team-mate Gorka Antxustegui by 18.6s after two days of exciting action on the asphalt stages around Gran Canaria.

“It’s fantastic to be in the IRC because it’s very important,” said Vinyes. “To finish sixth overall and first two-wheel drive is fantastic for me and for my team because we worked hard for this.

“My team-mate was very quick and he knows very much the car and drove very well. I had no problems, I just controlled the difference between us to be at the finish.”

Angel Marrero impressed in third and reported that his Honda Civic Type R ran without fault. Germán Hernandez finished fourth in another Honda to put the Japanese make top of the IRC 2WD Cup manufacturers’ standings with Robert Consani fifth.

Harry Hunt had been on course for fifth in his Citroën DS3 R3T only for the car’s engine to cut out two kilometres from the finish of the final stage. And it would get worse for the former IRC 2WD Cup champion when a broken fuel injector meant he was unable to reach the finish, handing what became sixth position in the category to Yeray Lemes in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2.

Bulgarian Ekaterina Stratieva just missed out on a point at the start of her IRC 2WD Cup campaign.