After Madeira island born Bernardo Sousa victory on 2014 Azores Rallye (then called SATA Rallye Açores) it is now time to congratulate another Madeira islander. Pedro Silva won the first edition of Azores Virtual Rallye, the event that took place until last Sunday and counted with more than 1100 participants.
At the end of the virtual rally, Pedro, that drove a Ford Fiesta R5, stated that he was “very happy to be the second Madeira islander to win Azores Rallye. I would like to congratulate the organization for the event and affirm that you can count with me on future editions of this race as well as others you might held”. Pedro managed also to be the best Portuguese driver overall.
The Northern Irish Jon Armstrong, from the Official DiRT Rally Team, was second fastest by the end of the 12 special stage event at the wheel of his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. Armstrong has already been at the Azores, by 2015, with a Peugeot 208 R2, fighting back then for the best place among Junior ERC competitors.
Turkish Ali Turkkan ended Azores Virtual Rallye at the lowest place on podium driving a Mistubishi Spacestar R5 for AVCISport. Turkkan had to deal with a puncture that made him lost about 30 seconds and of course with his kids, that did not let him play whenever he wanted.
Best Azorean driver was João Carreiro that also drove a Volkswagens Polo GTI R5 for KFC Racing Team, finishing Azores Virtual Rallye being second best Portuguese competitor.
As on what concerns to teams, the Colin McRae Tribute team managed to win achieving 964 points being followed, on overall classification, by MPM Motorsport Poland with 924 points and A-Sport 1 with 906 points.
Former ERC champion Alexey Lukyanuk finished 18th overall, as reigning FIA ERC champion Chris Ingram as well as Eyvind Brynildsen were forced to withdraw.
On summary, more than 350 virtual rally drivers finished this first Azores Virtual Rallye, an event that counted with an entry list with more than 850 entries. Grupo Desportivo Comercial SIM Racing department would like to thank all participants as well as all partners that made possible this first virtual event.
Meanwhile another event is coming soon. When Grupo Desportivo Comercial celebrates its 60th anniversary and with Azores Rallye counting with 55 years of motorsport action there is a lot of history to relive. So, the team is now preparing another v-rally this time for fans to relive memories of former editions of rallies on São Miguel island available only for the ones that dare to drive rear-wheel drive cars from the 70’s and the 80’s. More news coming soon, so, stay tuned.
Results available on this link.