Nicolas Vouilloz has taken his first victory of the year in the 2008 IRC series, to claim the exclusive lead of the drivers’ standings. He also reinforces Peugeot’s lead of the manufacturers’ rankings.

The Peugeot Belgium driver won the opening spectator superspecial on Thursday night and then reclaimed the lead on SS12 yesterday, after Peugeot Portugal driver Bruno Magalhaes picked up a puncture that cost him three minutes and the chance to win the rally. Vouilloz then faced a tough final day in Madeira,taking in eight special stages, in which he had to fend off another local expert in a Peugeot, Madeiran Alexandre Camacho, as well as Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso.

The undoubted star of the final day was Basso, who won all of the Saturday stages apart from one. Basso – a two-time winner of the Madeira Rally – was briefly in the lead on Friday morning, but lost out after making the wrong tyre choice in the afternoon. Having started the final day with more than a 30-second deficit to the leader, he ended it just five seconds behind. Basso passed Camacho on the final stage to claim a well-deserved second place.

In fourth place was former European Champion Renato Travaglia, suffering from a stomach upset that handicapped him throughout the rally – which was held in dry and hot conditions. Nonetheless, the privateer Abarth driver defeated Peugeot Italy’s Luca Rossetti, who came into the Madeira Rally jointly leading the championship together with Vouilloz.

Rossetti dropped time with overheating brakes during the very first loop of stages on Friday, and
struggled to make up the time lost from then on. Ypres Rally winner Freddy Loix was sixth in his Peugeot, in front of Umberto Scandola who was drafted in at the last minute to replace the unwell Anton Alen at Abarth. Despite not contesting any major events since October last year, the young Italian did well to score points.

Magalhaes eventually claimed eighth and the final point, having led earlier. “I had a lot of pressure today, so I’m very pleased to win,” said Vouilloz. “I didn’t have so much confidence over the final stages, so it was a question of trying to hang on and not make any mistakes. It was very close all day, so I’m really happy that this tactic worked: it was definitely one of the toughest days of my career.”

The winner of the IRC 2WD Cup was local man Miguel Nunes, at the wheel of a Peugeot 206 Super 1600, who claimed the category lead from the first day. The similar car of Antonio Nunes finished second, putting Peugeot in the lead of the category.

Retirements included Brice Tirabassi (Peugeot), who stopped with an electrical problem on the opening day, while the similar car of Luca Betti was hindered by gear selection problems throughout the event.

IRC final results, Madeira Rally

1Vouilloz/Klinger               Peugeot 207 S2000 3h05m14.8s
2 Basso/Dotta                  Abarth Grande Punto +5.4s
3 Camacho/Calado           Peugeot 207 S2000 +8.0s
4 Travaglia/Granai            Abarth Grande Punto +41.2s
5 Rossetti/Chiarcossi         Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m02.5s
6 Loix/Buysmans              Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m08.7s
7 Scandola/D’Amore          Abarth Grande Punto +2m28.6s
8 Magalhaes/Magalhaes    Peugeot 207 S2000 +3m03.2s
9 Fontes/Costa                Abarth Grande Punto +3m45.9s
10 Solowow/Baran             Peugeot 207 S2000 +5m52.0s

Standings

1 Vouilloz 36                 1 Peugeot 85
2 Rossetti 30                 2 Abarth 46
3 Basso 22                    3 Mitsubishi 9
4 Loix 19                      4 Volkswagen 5
5 Kopecky 15
6 Hanninen & Alen 14
8 Travaglia 10
9 Camacho 6
10 Casier 5