The World Rally Championship’s top drivers have heaped praise on Rally Islas Canarias after it made its WRC calendar debut last week.
Rally Islas Canarias has plenty of history, having begun life as Rally El Corte Inglés in 1977 and hosted 32 editions of the European championship since then. But the step up to world level always brings with it challenges: more fans, longer routes, the world’s fastest rally cars are among the factors at play.
Though Kalle Rovanperä thoroughly routed the opposition on the timesheets, winning by 53.5s, away from the sporting spectacle the drivers had glowing reviews of the event – the biggest compliments coming from Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who finished fourth.
“[It is] definitely the best rally,” he told DirtFish.
“The road is nice, the place is nice, spectators can enjoy. My guests or team sponsors, anyone can come and visit, feel good, with nice weather. Nothing to complain about!
“The organizers did a great job. There is not much traffic; the police were helping us a lot, taking the cars away and the rally cars to go earlier. That’s such an impressive [feat] because this is the first rally [in the WRC]. So I’m very impressed and there is massive effort for sure by the organizers, but they definitely did a good job.”
Hyundai’s trio of drivers struggled all weekend, their pre-event choices of components leaving all three struggling for grip and unable to match the Toyotas.
Despite all three hanging under a cloud from looking at the timing boards, they could see the positives – especially Adrien Fourmaux, who won the rally in 2020 when heavy rain dominated proceedings.
“In 2020, I couldn’t really enjoy it – it was cloudy all the time,” Fourmaux explained. “Now, I was like, wow, it’s beautiful! It’s a really great event. I’m really happy that it was in the WRC this year. It’s nice to have a full Tarmac event in the championship.”
Other asphalt rounds on the WRC calendar are known for featuring plenty of pollution from cutting, often making grip unpredictable – or, in the case of Monte-Carlo, with ice patches creating jeopardy.
Several drivers, including Ott Tänak, appreciated having the opportunity once a season to drive on asphalt in a pure contest of speed.
The pure driving challenge of clean asphalt roads was popular
“The stages were definitely fun and demanding to drive, so for us it was a great rally to drive,” he said.
“To have something like this in the calendar, in one way it’s very unique, but the other way is it’s great to drive when you can just focus purely on driving and it’s clearly a pure performance event.”
World champion Thierry Neuville picked out Saturday’s Tejeda test, which featured a breathtakingly fast downhill section towards the end, which Sébastien Ogier called a “crazy stage”, as a highlight, concurring with his team-mates’ opinions.
“It’s very straightforward in terms of road conditions, so that’s really nice,” said Neuville. “And you can really enjoy the driving.”
Next year’s event will mark the 50th running of Rally Islas Canarias, with organizers plotting a multi-island itinerary beyond its typical Gran Canaria base.
