João Silva, who had already finished the first section behind Rui Jorge Fernandes in the contest for the victory of the two-wheel drive cars, is not, two special stages away from the four stages of the first leg, 2.4 seconds of the Renault Clio R3T driver. Behind the duet is Dinarte Baptista (Renault Clio R3), 38,7 seconds, Roberto Canha (Peugeot 208 Rally4), 1:14,1, and João Ferreira (Citroën DS3 R3T), 1:46.2 tenths of a second. Filipe Freitas is now completely alone on the command of the RGT group, as Paulo Carvalheiro, the second, is more than 6 minutes, and Paulo Mendes, third, is more than 11.  

Estas condições climatéricas vieram baralhar-nos a todos nós

Winner of the four special stages already competed, Miguel Nunes is alone in the leadership of Rali Vinho da Madeira, from the first special stages of Campo de Golfe, Palheiro Ferreiro, Boaventura and Santana. The Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo driver has a head start of 18,3 seconds gap of the second standing, Alexandre Camacho, who wasn’t lucky with the special stages of wet and dry routes, as well as the fog.  In the third position is Ricardo Teodósio, also the third in the Portuguese Rally Championship, who didn’t have a good start in the morning, but ended up regaining the position he is now. The driver from Algarve is followed by Bruno Magalhães, 2,1 seconds very effective with his Hyundai i20 R5. The Spanish Jan Solans, fifth, had a few drawbacks with the Special Stage in Campo de Golfe, however, he has been improving and is now the second fastest driver in Boaventura. Armindo Araújo has a reversed performance, as he started off quite well, but had a few drawbacks during the end of the morning.  Standing out is Bernardo Sousa who, with a Skoda Fabia R5, was in eleventh position in the starting stage, nevertheless, the improvement of his performance allowed him to become the eighth in the second passage through the assistance park, right behind José Pedro Fontes, with a Citroën C3 Rally2. The two last drivers of top 10 are Miguel Correia and Pedro Paixão, who lost a lot of time in the first stage in Santana due to a puncture in one of his Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo tyres.  

Rui Jorge Fernandes, behind the wheel of a Renault Clio R3T, is the leader of the standings for the drivers of the two-wheel drive, category that the best drivers achieved by taking advantage of the difficult weather conditions, having a performance better than other more powerful vehicles. João Silva, in a national debut of his Renault Clio Rally4, is 2,2 seconds right behind him, and Ernesto Cunha, behind the wheel of a Peugeot 208 Rally4 is 12 of his leader. Dinarte Baptista, with a Renault Clio R3, and Américo Gouveia, driving a Peugeot 208 Rally4, are next in the standings.  

Tomorrow, 6th August, starts the 62nd Edition of Rali Vinho da Madeira. As in 2020, this competition, organized by Club Sports da Madeira and directed by Pedro Melvill Araújo, will have 16 special stages, divided into equal numbers amongst the two days of the competition. This was a very applauded decision last year and its main reason is to reduce the organizational costs, as well as to implement the contingency plan and enforce sanitary measures.   Sports-wise, the Organizing Committee, presided by Paulo Fontes, assured an excellent list of entries that will guarantee great entertainment, as it is set by the most accredited names of national and regional rallies in absolute levels and specific groups, to which a Junior World Champion, an outstanding panel of the best vehicles Rally2, several national and international debuts of models. Due to the performance of the last few years, the attentions will be centred in the usual competitors of the regional competition, Alexandre Camacho, Miguel Nunes and Pedro Paixão, all behind the wheel of a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo and its dispute, usually to the tenth of a second, for the leadership. Nevertheless, in the fight for the first positions, will be equally the Spanish Jan Solans, driving a Citroën C3 Rally2, as well as previous winners of such event, as Bruno Magalhães, behind the wheel of a Hyundai i20 R5, and José Pedro Fontes, also driving a Citroën C3 Rally2. Other drivers such as Armindo Araújo, Ricardo Teodósio, more focused in the national championship, will also fight for a very desired place on the podium. With more competition in groups and levels, the reasons for Rali Vinho Madeira to be considered one of the most popular festivities of the Archipelago are reassured.