PEREZ STARTS LEADING THE 550 CHALLENGE
Excitement and competitiveness is what has been felt after the starting gun of the first edition of the 550 Challenge de Mallorca given in Port Adriano at 16.30 hours by the director of the event, Toni Dezcallar, together with the Deputy Mayor of Sports of the City Council of Calvià, Eva Serra, the director of Marketing of Port Adriano, Cristina García, and the president of the Balearic Automobile Federation, Demetrio Lladó.
Fifty national and international teams from different countries besides Spain, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, have started with the sole objective of competing for the leadership of the event from the first of the four stages of the opening day of the 550 Challenge.
Until Saturday, October 9, all the drivers will cover 550 kilometers timed over 18 demanding stages that will demand the maximum from each team at the wheel in order to gain as much time as possible on the clock.
The first day, which has started with the sections of "Estellencs - Andratx" and "Calvià - Coll de Sa Creu", has been led by the British team Perez / McElhinney, who have maintained their leadership throughout the first day at the controls of their 2021 Ford Fiesta Rally2. After winning the four stages of the first stage that started the rally today, Thursday, and with a lead of more than a minute over the second classified, the Piza/Piza team with their 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO V, the British driver aspires to win the first edition of the 550 Challenge, although there are still two full days and 14 stages to go. His main rivals and those who complete the temporary podium are the Balearic teams Piza/Piza and Martorell/Fluxá with their Ford Sierra Cosworth.
In the Regularity category, the Majorcan team formed by Tommy Castañer and Toni Durán lead the category in 'Medium High' after demonstrating a mastery at the wheel of their 1970 Frua Porsche 2.4 S Targa of 1970 in the four stages of the day. In 'Medium Low' the British Helen Pitt and Charles Nutter have finished the day first in their class at the controls of their 1997 Rover MG MGF MGF.
It is worth mentioning the participation in the category of electric vehicles of the Majorcan car brand Loryc, founded in 1920, which participates with two vehicles of 20 hp power, which allows a range of over 200 kilometers and can exceed 100 kilometers per hour; a real luxury in the history of the Balearic motor that has adapted to the new times and allows sustainable mobility.
The competition has started with the desire to become one of the most important motor competitions in Europe, and since the first edition are great champions and pilots who have relied on this test, and among them, include the participation of two international champions of drift, the sport in which the curves are linked skidding the vehicle without stopping the engine. At the controls of a 1997 Toyota Corolla WRC is Dunev, champion of Bulgaria, and with a 2014 Ford Fiesta R5 EVO2 the champion of Italy, Arianna Corallo.
Tomorrow, the drivers will face six new sections in which to measure their driving skills and abilities, on spectacular roads such as "Formentor - Pollença", "Llubí - Santa Margarita" or "Pollença - Lluc".
