Chennai; Efrén Llarena of Team MRF Tyres claimed a sensational victory at the Azores Rallye in Portugal to secure the maiden FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) win. The second round of the FIA ERC took place in unpredictable weather with Saturday having torrential rain and Sunday being run mostly in beautiful sunshine. The difficult conditions did not deter Team MRF Tyres as Efrén Llarena and Sara Fernández created history by clinching the historic win for the team. It was a thrilling finish with the Spanish duo needing to make up 6.1 seconds on the final stage to snatch victory in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. They had started the day in third place and soon moved up to second, but had to make up more than 10 seconds to the leader. It demanded a huge effort from the Team. They clinched the top spot from hometown hero Ricardo Maura at the very last stage to win the rally. The other two drivers of Team MRF Tyres also finished the Azores Rallye in the top 10. Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton of Team MRF Tyres had to overcome a technical issue that saw them drop time in the morning loop. However, after the team effected repairs, the Italian duo were able to maintain their place to finish 7th while their teammates Norbert Herczig and Igor Bacigál also found pace through the day as they worked their way to finish 8th in the rally. In the ERC3 category Team MRF Tyres’ Igor Widlak and Daniel Dymurski finished second in the category, according to a MRF release here today. On winning the Azores Rallye, Efrén Llarena said, “It is amazing, I cannot describe the feeling of taking my first win at the European Rally Championship and the first for the Team MRF Tyres. We knew we had to push hard, and I knew if we pushed anything was possible. It is amazing how the MRF tyres performed. The tyres gave me confidence to push for the victory. I must thank everyone at Team MRF Tyres who made this possible.” “I am really proud to be able to bring this victory home”, Efren said After the second round of the 2022 FIA ERC, Efrén Llarena and Sara Fernández stood second in the standings. The next round takes place on tarmac with the Rally Islas Canarias in May 2022.
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