Giandomenico Basso retains lead in Madeira Rally as competition tightens

Armindo Araújo opened the Madeira Rally strongly, posting the fastest time in the opening Super Special and taking an early lead in the Portuguese Rally Championship (CPR) classification. In the second stage, Italian driver Giandomenico Basso narrowed his advantage to just 0.4 seconds over fellow competitor Miguel Nunes, while Araújo fell to fourth place, 4.4 seconds behind the Madeira native leader.

After the second section, Basso remained in front, now 1.6 seconds ahead of Nunes, with João Silva in third. The top ten also featured Alexandre Camacho, Miguel Caires, and the CPR leaders Rúben Rodrigues and Pedro Almeida. The stage saw several incidents: Kris Meeke lost time after a touch, and José Pedro Fontes, Gonçalo Henriques and Diego Ruiloba retired due to crashes or mechanical failure. The rally continued with a third section that includes another pass through Santo da Serra and Palheiro Ferreiro, keeping the leaderboard tightly contested.