Benito Guerra put in a good opening day flanked by Borja Rozada in their Ralliart Italy-run Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X at Rally de Espana. He showed a strong pace on the first 61.75km of competitive stages despite having problems shifting his higher gears from SS1 onwards, which cost him time throughout the opening three night stages.

Quick to adapt to any challenge, Guerra worked around his troubles and was, by SS3, the fastest Group N car in the stage. He returned to evening Flexiservice focused on fixing the problem and the job in hand – taking the lead of the Group N category. It’s full attack for the Mexican tomorrow as he hopes to have a clear run and show everyone the full extent of his speed!

photo2Happy to be back in a Mitsubishi after one year out of Group N cars, Guerra is unfazed by his early setback and enjoyed the opening section nonetheless: “It feels like Borja and I never stopped competing together. We found a good rhythm immediately. Even in the dark, we were confident. It’s nice to race in the forest in the middle of the night. It’s really inspiring when you turn a dark corner and suddenly light up lots of spectators waving flags – even some Mexican ones! It was nice to start on the Tarmac, although I’m also looking forward to the gravel. All-in-all I’m having a great time – I wouldn’t even mind some rain to change things up a bit!”

Team Manager Bruno De Pianto regrets Guerra’s troubles with his gears, but is confident the 2012 FIA Production car World Champion can work with his team to get back out at the front of the pack: “It’s really frustrating when things like this happen. Benny had trouble changing up through the top gears in his car and this meant that he had to adapt his driving style and couldn’t attack as much as he wanted to. We’re confident that’s all fixed now though. Tomorrow he’ll be flat out. He’s got something to prove and we know he can do it!”