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Class Win For Perez On Snowy Rallye Mallorca
Triple British champion Steve Perez not only had to contend with the strong competition but the unusual weather too as he scored yet another class win, this time on the ninth running of three-day Oris Rallye Clasico Isla Mallorca held on the popular Balearic Isle.
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Driving the iconic 1974 Amigos Tequila-flavoured beer branded Lancia Stratos on the prestigious event, Perez, from Chesterfield, and renowned ex professional co-driver Bobby Willis, were hoping to add more success following Steve's recent victory on the Hadeland Historic Rally Norway as well as the considerable successes last season.
However, the 2003 British Historic, 2004 National ANCRO and 2010 BTRDA champion didn't expect snow which caused problems from the start as Steve explained:
"I've done this event a few times now and whilst we've had tricky conditions because of the rain at this time of year, to experience snow was simply unprecedented! Before the event began, we got stuck in our recce car and had to be rescued by a JCB such were the conditions. I've never seen anything like it in Mallorca!"
Any hopes the crew had of the conditions improving rapidly were dashed when the organisers cancelled the opening stage due to the snow meaning the action didn't get underway until day two but it was worth the wait.
Steve stormed through the opening stages inside the top six to establish the lead in Class C4 before climbing the leaderboard throughout the day to end up in fifth overall, including setting fourth fastest time on the day's penultimate test. As a result, he held the class lead by over a minute going into the final day as conditions improved.
Perhaps more importantly, a battle was beginning to emerge between the self-appointed G-WRC (Gentlemens World Rally Class) contenders, Perez and his rival Andrew Siddall, which saw Siddall lead Steve by a single second at the overnight halt.
With the class win in the bag providing he had no disasters, Perez's G-WRC task became a little harder as Siddall upped the pace early on the final day leaving Steve with it all to do. But in typical fashion, courtesy of a pair of top three times, Steve whittled the gap down to just two seconds going into the final stage.
There, he managed to continue his good pace and eventually finished 20 seconds ahead of Siddall and in doing so, not only claimed the class win but an amazing fourth place overall to go one place better than his fifth position in his Porsche 911 last year.
"It all came down to the last stage and we managed to pull it off,"
said a delighted Steve. "The class win and fourth place overall were very important and the icing on the cake has been maximum points for me in the G-WRC ahead of Andrew. Thanks to Bobby for doing a great job and also to the BTR team once again as this is another great result to add to our increasing list in the Stratos."
PaddockTalk Perspective
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Also in WRC Rally News 2010: |
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