The return was for dinner

Alberto Meira return to Rally Rias Baixas four years later. With the Vincios driver focused on the Galicia Championship, he decided to put the national calendar aside, but Víctor Senra, at a dinner in Viveiro after the last round of the regional competition, encouraged Meira to enter his Škoda among the participants. term that counts for the Spanish Cup this year.

«lioume Victor Senra On Mariña, he certainly wants me to focus more, not Rías, not the Rally de Pontevedra», reveals Alberto between laughs. It all happened at the dinner of several drivers from promotional cups. «Victor encouraged me a little. He told me that he will not run or rally at home, that he has rhythm and that he can certainly fight for victory. And he did not jokingly say that he paid the registration fee“, which he followed literally.

The initiative of the six-time regional champion in the asphalt rally, together with the significance of the event —”o Rías, is one of the most mythical rallies in the area, bringing many people to the history it has»—, the sponsors of the Vincios team also supported. «The sponsors like what we do and it helps us keep up, so we decided to do it even though we have Pontevedra next week».

Meira, one of the leading autonomous drivers and one of the few who can challenge Senra’s World Rally Car, does not hide that the proximity of the date can affect the strategy of the domestic rally. «We have to go with mom. Try to run as much as possible, but feel it get some cliffs because next week we have a championship test to focus on“, he comments.

This does not mean that I renounce anything: «We will try to run or catch her, besides having a good time». Because Alberto Meire’s competitive gene comes to the surface when asked about his goals: «We want to stay as much as possible and see where we can be and we can visit the pillars above, let’s do it». He even postulates the final triumph: «Who do you see will win? For a minute, if I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t go», he says without batting an eyelid, but admitting that there is an excellent level on the starting line, with Cohete Suárez as a big candidate for the final victory, courtesy of Muñiz, Óscar Palacios and Cagiao. The main handicap of the domestic driver is the lack of rhythm in terms of the state calendar.

And although it has been a long time since his last foray into the test, in 2019, Meira knows almost all parts of the Vigo test by heart. «Fornelos é o mythical, polo que vin nos mapas xa o corrín dun móm ou outro; Chenlo and the same, or Monte Alba, or the same; Salceda xa or corrín tamen. Ponte Caldelas is the only one that is never there».

Relaxed in autonomy

The incursion into the national calendar is correct. Alberto Meira feels comfortable running on the Galician asphalt. «On a working level, I am defeated with the championship, because our company runs the distribution of Pirelli. We have promotional cups here, which always help me and other pilots keep up with the budget. In Galicia there are better prizes and aids, and on top of that there is a very high level of organizers and pilots».

In the regional, moreover, he maintains a healthy grudge with the unrelenting Víctor Senra. «The regulations allow you to run WRC against iso, and more Víctor, it’s almost impossible to beat him, just a few stages, but when he opens up, or his car is faster per kilometer and for brakes, traction and everything, it’s more than Rally 2 like him or us».

His Škoda Fabia R5 is the first generation of this model, it has all the evolutions, it underwent a thorough engine overhaul last year and it runs very well, but in terms of performance it does not reach Dumbrian’s Citroen C3 WRC. Despite everything, Meira is always at war. To all rivals and in all scenarios.

Cohete Suárez opens the “European” rally list

Asturian José Antonio Rocket Suárez will be the opponent to beat in Rías Baixas. His goal is to confirm the title in the Supercampeonato de España de Rallies (SCER), but from tomorrow he will take to the roads of the Vigo area to take the Rías Baixas Rally, which saw its release yesterday with the official presentation.

Perhaps the presence of leading men such as Cohete Suárez, Álvaro Muñiz, Óscar Palacio or Jorge Cagiao led the mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, to describe the event as “a rally of European level, with a great tradition”. “I like that it is in Vigo, that it occupies a part of the city,” said the current councilor before making it clear that he will continue to support the event in the future: “We will try this year, the next and the next, because I work in periods of four year, to be even better. Since I will continue to rule in four years, we will have the Rías Baixas Rally for a long time to come ».

Schedule

Today, the countdown to the rally from Vigo begins, with the recognition of the stages. Thursday will be the day of technical checks, and the official departure ceremony is scheduled for eight thirty in the afternoon from Policarpo Sanz Street, in the heart of the neuralgia center in Vigo.

The main change of the 57th edition appears in the epilogue, with a 4 kilometer special called Vigo and which will be run along the O Zondal road, which will run on the same layout as the test section.

shaking

Rías Baixas 2023 will start on Friday morning with the Shakedown and the Monte Alba section where the participants will determine the starting order. In the afternoon, starting at six, they will cover the sections Barciademera-Fornelos (13.4 kilometers) and Ponte Caldelas (7.8 kilometers), with a control point in Mondariz and regrouping in Ponte Caldelas.

On Saturday, there will be a double passage through the sections Vigo-Nigrán (13.7), Gondomar-O Porriño (11.6) and Salceda (10.3), with help in Samil at noon. The term will end with the Vigo section. The awarding ceremony will take place in Policarpo Sanz Street from half past eight in the afternoon. In parallel, the official classification must be published.

The working parks will have Samil as the nerve center, but they will change the location. It will be right on the road. The race will be directed by Verbum.