Thierry Neuville took the lead – big names participating in a small rally

Neuville, in pursuit of his first World Championship title, began the La Nucia Rally on Friday evening with a strong performance, as expected. The Belgian set the fastest time on both runs of the Callosa d’Ensarrià stage, which was run twice.

Alongside Neuville, Hyundai’s Norwegian driver Andreas Mikkelsen is also preparing for Rally Japan in this event, held near Valencia and Alicante. On the opening stage, Mikkelsen was only 1.4 seconds behind Neuville’s leading time, but in the second run, he lost a further 4.6 seconds. Thus, Neuville’s lead in the overall standings is exactly six seconds ahead of Mikkelsen.

Holding third place after two stages is Estonian Robert Virves, who lost over half a minute to the Rally1 cars on Friday evening. Following Virves, who is driving a Škoda, in fourth is Alpine driver Jorge Cagiao, and in fifth is Enrique Cruz from the host country, driving a Ford.

The La Nucia Rally also features Finnish driver Lauri Joona, familiar from the World Rally Championship, who sits in eighth overall after the opening day. Behind Joona in ninth place is Estonian Georg Linnamäe, while veteran Freddy Loix holds the tenth spot. The time differences between the Rally2 cars remain small, with only 5.7 seconds separating third-placed Virves and Joona in eighth.

The La Nucia Rally, taking place near the holiday destination of Benidorm, skipped the opening ceremony, and the prize-giving ceremony has also been cancelled. This decision was made to honour the victims of severe flooding that recently struck the Valencia and Alicante areas.

On Saturday, a total of nine special stages are scheduled for the La Nucia Rally.

La Nucia Rally, Standings after SS2/11: