MADRID, 6 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish driver Isidre Esteve (Repsol Toyota Team) took thirteenth place this Saturday in the Ultimate category, with the latest batch of 4×4 cars, in the fourth stage of the Rally Raid de Portugal, held over 253 kilometers between Badajoz and the municipality of Grândola.
In the surroundings of Villafranca de los Barros, Jerez de los Caballeros and Fregenal de la Sierra, several fast and technical sections of the first 100 km changed a panorama where in the previous days we had seen mainly the narrow and muddy Portuguese tracks.
However, the water rafts appeared again in the second part of the day, slower and on more broken terrain, with stones and areas of forest. The pilot from Ilerda and his co-pilot, Txema Villalobos, offered a great version to enjoy the crowd packed in the ditches and climb to ninth position in the overall Ultimate table.
“I had a lot of fun, to be honest. The special had nothing to do with the ones we competed in Portugal these days ago. It was very technical from start to finish, it required precise driving, it had dirt, fast tracks, with some steps of water… Fantastic. I liked it a lot. We are super happy with the pace we are showing, with the partials we have marked and with our position before the last stage of the rally,” Esteve declared to the Repsol Toyota Team.
“One of the things that has made me most excited has been seeing so many dedicated people following us on the stage. I love that the Spanish fans have the option of seeing a World Rally Raid event up close and being able to share with them moments like those of last night in the Badajoz service,” added the driver from Ilerda.
“I have really enjoyed these two days; it has been a fantastic experience. As if that were not enough, this rally is allowing me to work with Repsol engineers to evolve the renewable fuel with which we already competed in the last two Dakar Rally. All the learnings that we are obtaining seek to continue improving our benefits in the future”, concluded Esteve.