The Red Bull Rally Team pilot withdraws during the first Special Qualifying Race of the day

After yesterday’s position amongst the overall Top 10 of the Portuguese Vodafone Rally, today a hole followed by a problem with the brakes and a swerve off the road ended up with Bernardo Sousa’s withdrawal right in the first section of the day against the clock.

An objective impossible to fulfil after a series of mishaps. A hole, a problem with the brakes of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX and a run off the road forced the Madeiran pilot to withdraw early from his third participation in the Portuguese Vodafone Rally.

“We continued at a reasonable pace when suddenly the brakes failed. We tried to solve the problem – and thought that we had managed – but later on the brakes failed again and we ran off the road”, says Bernardo Sousa who, before the brakes failed, was forced to stop to change a wheel. “It’s not the desired result but I think we made good time and left good indications for the future”, stresses the Red Bull Rally Team pilot.

After the rebuff experienced during the first stage, when a hole in the radiator forced Bernardo Sousa and his navigator, Jorge Carvalho, to withdraw when they were in 8th place overall, yesterday the pair ended up by being forced to abandon the race again during the first Special Qualifying Race of the day, a 10.40 km section in Santana da Serra. Despite his disheartedness due to problems experienced during the race, Bernardo already has his mind on the next race: the Acropolis Rally, a PWRC race that takes place between the 29th of May and the 1st of June in Greece. “It’s going to be another race for learning and creating a good base for the future”, he points out.