Antonio Nunes went one better last weekend, when he finished the Rali de Calheta, the third round of the Madeira Rally Championship second overall and won the Group N class in his MML Sports-prepared Mitsubishi Lancer EvolutionX. This promotes him to joint second overall in the 2010 championship and he is now leading the Production class, for Group N cars.
Once again, it was a close-fought affair from the word go. Nunes found himself in a familiar battle with Joao Magalhaes, Filipe Freitas and Rui Pinto, the four drivers trading times on almost every stage. Freitas’ challenge evaporated when he suffered problems on the fifth stage of the event and despite their best efforts, neither Magalhaes or Pinto were able to gain an advantage over the eight timed tests.
By the time the drivers arrived at the finish ramp, Nunes was second overall, behind the Super2000 car of his brother Miguel and first in Group N. His class-winning margin demonstrated just how competitive rallying on the island is, with just 3.2 seconds covering the top three Group N cars.
Commenting, MML Sports Managing Director John Easton said; “This is another great result for Antonio, particularly when you consider this is his first season in a four wheel-drive car. I hope that at some point, we might see him take an outright rally win to add to his consistently improving results.
“I think to be second overall in the championship and leading the production class after just three rallies demonstrates the class of driver he is, as well as the competitiveness of the MML Sports Gp N EvoX.”