Bruno Magalhães will start Rallye Sanremo for a third time this week hoping that there will be no repeat of the drama he experienced when he made his debut on the event in 2007.
The Peugeot Sport Portugal ace was competing outside his homeland for the first time but retired on the Ronde night stage when he collided with the similar Peugeot 207 of Brice Tirabassi, which had crashed and was blocking the road.
“He was in the middle of the road on a fourth-gear corner and there was nothing I could do,” said the Lisbon driver. “Two Peugeots going out at the same time was not good but at least I could carry on in SupeRally.”
Magalhães, who is co-driven by Paulo Grave, moved into 10th place in the overall drivers’ standings by finishing ninth on the Canon Mecsek Rallye earlier this month. As things stand Rallye Sanremo will mark his final appearance in this year’s IRC. He was third fastest in Thursday’s shakedown.