2022 Andalucia Rally: Weather forces Stage 2 cancellation

Stage #2 of the Andalucía Rally promised to be a technical two-part leg as the run to Málaga was hyped up by director David Castera as boasting “some WRC-style sections” and mountains. Unfortunately, competitors never got the chance to see for themselves as poor weather conditions resulted in its cancellation.

While the rain would not have badly impacted the racers themselves, fog prevented safety helicopters from taking off from Sevilla to oversee the race. The stage was initially delayed for two hours, then shortened to 84 kilometres before being called off entirely.

“We made the decision to cancel Stage #2 of the Andalucía Rally because our helicopters were unable to reach the special due to adverse weather conditions,” Castera explained. “The course itself was mostly clear, but it lies 120 kilometres away and the pilots would have had to fly through very foggy areas with no visibility at all. We held out for as long as we could before cancelling the stage. We shortened the course with every passing hour, but we had to make a go/no-go decision by 2 PM. When the clock struck two, our helicopters were still unable to reach the special, so we had no choice but to call it a day.”

With no racing taking place, the FIA was busy addressing infractions in the previous leg. The #312 T3 of Ricardo Ramilo Suarez suffered a four-minute penalty and €100 fine for speeding in Stage #1B, going as fast as 27 km/h over the 50 km/h speed limit. José Gameiro, the lone T2 in the race, had a minute added to his time for the same violation as he went 41 km/h instead of 30 km/h. In T1, Maria Luís received five minutes for going 87 in a 30 zone.

The overall leaders obviously remain the same from Stage #1B.

Leaders after Stage #2

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