THE FIA GAVE THE SURPRISE AT THE EUROPEAN BAJAS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP

From May 26 to 28, the 9th RALLY GREECE OFFROAD, valid for the Bajas Cross Country European Cup, was held in the City of Argos Orestiko, in the northwestern part of Greece and western territories of Macedonia.

Three days in which the first was dedicated to verifications and the last two to the competition itself, running two sections each day and adding a total of about 450 timed kilometers through the Greek mountains.

VM Competición attended this test with a vehicle driven by Miguel Valero and Jaqueline Ricci, who already participated in the previous European test held in Extremadura.

The race began on Friday with a section of about 6 kilometers with which the starting order for the following day is established, and in which the VM Competición couple finished in a magnificent seventh position overall, and first in their category.

On Saturday two sections of 108 kilometers each were disputed. The same section that was given two passes. A fast section of ascent towards the mountain with very closed curves. The problem arose a few kilometers before the arrival of the first stage in the form of a puncture, which caused them to lose many minutes in front of their competitors and they fell to seventeenth overall and fourth in their category.

During the second stage on Saturday, there were temperature problems on the climbs and also problems overtaking other competitors. Despite these two drawbacks, the VM Competición couple managed to recover 7 places, finishing in tenth place overall and fourth in their category, which became third in the category due to a penalty against another competitor.

On Sunday the format of the previous day was repeated, but with different sections. This time a 110-kilometre section was repeated, also through the mountains of northwestern Greece. Knowing the temperature problems and the penalty with the next competitor, Miguel Valero went out to preserve the mechanics so as not to punish them and finish the race in the current position.

Even so, the times were coming out and the Valencian couple was climbing some positions in the classification, finishing seventh overall and third in the T4 category.

However, a few hours after the end of the test, the final classifications were published and the Valencian team was surprised to see that the FIA had removed the penalty from the team from the previous day, which placed Miguel Valero and Jaqueline Ricci in fourth position. of the T4 category, losing the podium position that they had been holding all day.

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