Francisco Carrion
TEXT: PACO CARRIÓN / PHOTOS: UNAI ONA
Between the 24th, 25th and 26th of last March, the XII Edition of the Rallystone Bilbao. One of its great novelties has been the change of dates, since it has been ahead of the previous ones, which were traditionally celebrated during the May bridge.
This did not affect the level of participants, but it did affect the weather, as this "early spring" was very noticeable. The 48 teams entered in this last edition had to "sail" under intense fogs and downpours, which added an extra point. of suspense to the final result.
Rallyestone 2017: Victory for a GTI
Organized by the Real Peña Motorista Vizcaya (RPMV) and with international category FIVA-FEVA this event continues with the tradition of Firestone Rally that began its journey in 1967, and as such this year it paid tribute to both the winner of 1977 -the Frenchman Bernard Darniche- and the co-driver Paco Formoso -crew along with Beny Fernádez-, second classified that year and who by the way participated this with a Porsche 944 Turbo, which finished in a discreet 34th place overall.
In this last edition the list of registered -officially- was closed in the round figure of 48, of which 46 managed to finish the tough 825 km test, of which up to 60% took place in controlled sections. As always, in the closed park of the Arenal in Bilbao you could see a remarkable variety of vehicles, although this year the French participation was somewhat lower, and some good machines were missed that usually come from the neighboring country.
The absolute winners of this 2017 edition have been Santamaría-Renteria with Volkswagen Golf GTI MKI, followed at a distance of only 6 tenths by Foronda-Rodas with BMW 323 ix, both being local teams.
Predominance 'youngtimer'
Among the participating vehicles, apart from the traditional ones Porsche 911 y 944, Renault 8, Renault 5 GT Turbo or the plethora of Volkswagen Golf GTI from the first and second series with different levels of preparation, you could see some rare vehicles in this type of competition.
There were local teams that participated with so unusual frames In these struggles, such as an immaculate MG Maestro from the late 80s with Biscayan license plates, a bulky Audi 100 with little preparation or a Renault 18 also in a state very close to the series, including the wheels. From France came another vehicle that does not stand out for its sporting aptitudes: A Citroën GSA, this one with a somewhat more elaborate preparation.
And, among the much modern, the oldest it was a few MG B GT Coupes, or a beautiful Alfa Romeo Giulia TI Super, also from France.
Those who attended the start in the Bilbao estuary were also able to enjoy the traditional concentration of classics that takes place a few meters from the starting stand, which featured a large number of more or less prepared classics. To watch the classification list complete with its corresponding times, we leave you this link.
