Carnicer claims fourth Baja Lorca win, Van den Bosch fastest Dutchman in the Quattro

Santiago Carnicer Colomer has won the Baja Lorca – Ciudad del Sol for the fourth time in his career. Together with co-driver Sergio Peinado Jimenez, he was by some margin the strongest in the Toyota Hilux Overdrive (T1+) in this Spanish cross-country event. In the Open class, four Dutch Audi Quattro crews were on the entry list, facing a weekend defined by graft, setbacks and old-school engineering taking on modern machinery.

Carnicer crossed the line in 5:28:05.0 and kept fellow Spaniard Jesus Fuster Pliego in the Taurus Evo Max at bay by 2:22.8. The top three was completed by Luis Jesus Recuenco Alcañiz in a second Toyota Hilux Evo, just fourteen seconds behind Fuster. Behind this Spanish trio, Enrique Reyes Medina (Can-Am Maverick R) and José María Naranjo (JMP T3) delivered impressive fourth and fifth places.

Not handed to him

Carnicer’s victory was anything but straightforward. After a smooth prologue on Friday evening, in which Eduard Pons set the fastest time in his Taurus, the leader of the pack opened strongly in SS1. He was the only driver to go under 1h22m and immediately built a twenty-second gap to Recuenco. In SS2, the same loop run in reverse, he had to bow to Pons, whose time of 1:19:17.4 showed the Catalan was in fine form. Carnicer settled for second in that stage.

During SS3 on Saturday morning, things briefly went wrong for the Toyota driver. He dropped nearly six minutes to Fuster, who took the stage win and signalled his intentions. But in the closing SS4 on Saturday afternoon, Carnicer showed why he regards the Baja Lorca as his home rally: fastest time again, a gap to the chasers and this time comfortably enough to seal the overall win.

Van den Bosch quickest Audi after Van Loon issues

For the Dutch contingent, the weekend revolved around four classic Audi Quattros in the Open class. Erik van Loon and navigator Hein Verschuuren made a promising start with the fifteenth time in the prologue. “Which is pretty impressive with an Audi among all the modern cars,” Van Loon reflected. In SS1, however, the Brabant duo suffered a puncture and oil began leaking from the jack, costing precious minutes. Even so, Van Loon remained the fastest of the Audi crews in that opening test.

In SS2 the duo really came alive: thirteenth fastest overall, more than eleven minutes quicker than in the first stage and faster than several modern cars. Then disaster struck on Saturday afternoon in SS4. With 75 kilometres to the finish, the Audi started misfiring and the crew came to a standstill. Only after an hour of waiting did Van Loon receive help from compatriots Peter van den Bosch and Hans Brand. By the time he crossed the line, the clock had ticked past fourteen hours of stage time. “We had a great time, it was a beautiful and tough baja. Hein navigated brilliantly, it is a treat to drive this car,” said Van Loon, who finished 22nd overall.

Peter van den Bosch and Hans Brand became the best-placed Audi crew, taking nineteenth in the final standings at 1:12:40 behind Carnicer. Hans Stacey, with Belgian co-driver Serge Bruynkens alongside him, finished 24th overall at 1:26:52. The fourth Quattro entry, Marcel van Vliet and Marcel Pronk, appeared in the results of the prologue and SS1. After that, they no longer feature in the standings.