The fifteen crews that "conquered" the 12 tough special stages of the 50th Cyprus Rally!
Cyprus Rally has returned in an emphatic way to the sporting life of the country! In the two days of the anniversary 50th Cyprus Rally, on the weekend of October 7-8, 2023, thousands of motorsport fans were spread out at the various points of the twelve special stages, to witness the crews' passings up close.
The clerk of the course Mrs. Naya Kontopoulou noted: “This year's Cyprus Rally was held as planned, and with the absolute cooperation of all those who worked, at the headquarters, in the service park and on the special stages. We are very satisfied with the way the 50th Cyprus Rally turned out. Now, we are starting our work for 2024, where our goal is to present an even bigger and competitive event.”
Al-Attiyah stood out
The main protagonist of the 2023 event was of course Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar, who along with co-driver Mathieu Baumel and a Volkswagen Polo GTi R5, claimed his 8th total victory in the Cyprus Rally. Along with a second and a third place that the Qatari took, in 2007 and 2008 respectively, he has featured on the Cyprus podium an impressive ten times during his career!
Al-Attiyah –the five-time Dakar Rally winner and London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist in skeet shooting- has been competing in the Cyprus Rally since 2005. He emphasized, following his latest victory, that he will continue to come to our island, which he considers as his second home. He also urged all stakeholders to keep supporting this event.
Frenchman Mathieu Baumel, who competes under the flag of Andorra, secured his fourth victory as a co-driver in the Cyprus Rally and is now tied at the top of the relevant classification, along with the Italian Giovanni Bernacchini (former co-driver of Al-Attiyah) and the Monegasque Daniel Elena, who was Sebastian Loeb's co-driver in the Frenchman's four victories. Italian Vittorio Brambilla, co-driver of Alessandro Fiorio, follows with three wins.
Al-Attiyah and Baumel will have to wait a few more weeks when the FIA commission meets to learn if they will be crowned as the 2023 Middle East Rally Championship winners, as they are tied on 108 points with Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Ata Al-Hmoud, who finished 2nd in a Skoda Fabia R5. However, Al-Attiyah in his post-event quotes said that the fairest thing would be for the FIA to declare two co-champions for 2023.
Al-Rawahi, who has further improved this year, had an excellent rally and essentially the difference between him and Al-Attiyah were the three minutes he lost on the final stage of the first day due to a flat tyre. The major goal for the 26-year-old Al-Rawahi is to compete in the WRC. Al-Attiyah, Al-Rawahi and Simos Galatariotis each won four special stages.
Mshari Al-Thefiri from Kuwait was formally crowned MERC2 champion for the eighth time in his career by finishing the Cyprus Rally. It was his last event behind the wheel of his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X since he will be changing class next year.
Sponsors of the 50th Cyprus Rally are Honda – Galatariotis, ANCO Catering Equipment, Cablenet, Stop Fire, Andreopoulos Signs, Farmakas Natural Spring Water, Jeep and TGI Friday's. The Nicosia and Aglantzia Municipalities are supporters.
The Cypriot crews
A total of 15 crews “conquered” the 194.88 kilometres of the twelve special stages and reached the finish ramp on Sunday evening, at the site of the old city hall of Nicosia, in "Eleftheria" square.
Of these, twelve had the Cypriot flag on their door, with Christos Demosthenous / Kypros Christodoulou, with a Skoda Fabia R5, the fastest of them all, 6 minutes and 38 seconds behind the winner Al-Attiyah. In addition to the 3rd place in the general classification, they also won the "Vakis Stefanidis" Award as the top Cypriot crew. In total, they finished five times in the top three of the twelve 2023 special stages, while they claimed a spot on the podium for the 2nd time in their career, after the 3rd place in 2020. Also, with their first place on Sunday, they won the 4th round of the Cyprus championship. On Saturday, Simos Galatariotis had won the 3rd round (each day featured as a separate event for the local championship), but he was forced to retire during SS7 due to a problem with the radiator, after a bump on landing, at the Yeri jump.
The 4th place in the general ranking was claimed by Panayiotis Yiangou, and co-driver Aristos Nicolaou, with a Hyundai i20 R5. They had an excellent rally, with two placings in the top three of special stages. They were awarded the 2nd place prize for the Cypriot crews.
In 5th place overall was Petros Panteli, with the experienced Pambos Laos next to him in the Renault Clio. They pressured Yiangou for 4th place, but eventually finished +18.8 seconds further back. The two of them, however, also won two other distinctions, since they were crowned winners of the MERC3 category and the RC3 category.
Petros' brother, Chrysostomos Panteli, with co-driver Toullis Aristodemou, with a Peugeot 208 took 6th place in the general classification, having a consistently good event, due to which they were awarded with two trophies! First place in the RC4 category, as well as in the Rally4 category, for cars with two-wheel drive.
The first place in the RSC2 category was claimed by Constantinos Constantinou / Elenios Nicolaou with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII, who also finished in 7th place of the general classification.
Kleanthis Ellinas and George Pouyioukkas finished in 8th place overall with a Ford Fiesta, while they also managed to take first place in the RCL1 category.
The top ten of the general classification were completed by Floros Stylianou / Angelos Makrides with a Mitsubishi Mirage and Stavros Ypermachou / Vassilis Ypermachou with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII.
The 11th position overall was taken by Loizos Papageorgiou, and co-driver Prodromos Chrysanthou in a Mitsubishi Mirage.
Michalis Sofokleous proved his talent behind the wheel, in addition to his acting and comedy talents! Along with Evagoras Pantelides, in a Volkswagen Golf, they finished in 13th place overall, while they also received the prize for first place in the RCS1 category.
The important distinction of managing to finish the gruelling Cyprus Rally was claimed also by Nicos Marangos with co-driver Neophytos Kareklas in a Mazda RX8 who took 14th place and Thomas Theofanous with Angelos Xenophontos in a Peugeot 106, who had the 15th fastest time.
Mshari Al-Thefiri (Kuwait), with co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari (Qatar) and a Mitsubishi Evo X, finished in 12th place, taking first spot in the MERC2 category.
A total of 23 crews started the Rally, of which 22 resumed on the second day. The only abandonment from Saturday was that of Nicolas Kyriacou / Giorgos Zouppouris who went offroad into a cliff, damaging their Honda Civic.
The especially fast duo of Costas Zenonos / Phanos Christophi with the Citroen DS3 R5, abandoned twice, on Saturday and Sunday, while the most important retirement of the event was that of Simos Galatariotis / Antonios Ioannou during the first SS of day 2, while they were in the overall lead. The departure of Zacharias Manoli / Yannos Kallis with a Peugeot 208, while they were leading in the Rally4 category, two stages before the end, was also significant. Also, two stages before the finale, Photos Yiannouri / Andreas Chrysostomou with a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX were sent out of action while they were sixth overall.
In the first stage of the second day, two more crews retired, those of Marios and Constantinos Zakou (Honda Civic) and Christodoulos Christodoulou / Andreas Nestoros (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI). In the third stage of day 2, Sotiris and Christos Petrakides with a Ford Fiesta also retired, while they were tenth overall.
THE FINAL CLASSIFICATION:
1. Ν. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 3:03:38.7
2. A. Al-Rawahi /A. Al-Hmoud Skoda Fabia R5 +3:21.3
3. C. Demosthenous / K. Christodoulou Skoda Fabia R5 +6:38.0
4. Y. Yiangoy / Α. Nicolaou Hyundai i20 R5 +9:01.2
5. P. Panteli / P. Laos Renault Clio +9:20.0
6. C. Panteli / Τ. Aristodemou Peugeot 208 +26:27.8
7. C. Constantinou / Ε. Nicolaou Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII +28:47.8
8. C. Ellinas / G. Pougioukkas Ford Fiesta +41:35.5
9. F. Stylianou / Α. Makrides Mitsubishi Mirage +42:25.3
10. S. Ypermachou / V. Ypermachou Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII +46:15.6
11. L. Papageorgiou / P. Chrysanthou Mitsubishi Mirage +53:27.7
12. M. Al-Thefiri / N. Al-Kuwari Mitsubishi Evo Χ +56:10.0
13. M. Sofokleous / E. Pantelides Volkswagen Golf +1:06:53.8
14. Ν. Marangos/ Ν. Kareklas Mazda RX8 +1:18:45.3
15. T. Theofanous / Α. Xenofontos Peugeot 106 +1:23:44.1
More info at www.cyprusrally.com.cy.