Gil Membrado is the current leader of the FIA WRC3 category and the Spaniard heads into this weekend’s 59th Vodafone Rally of Portugal aiming to defend his slender four-point lead.
In addition to competing for points in the FIA Junior WRC, Membrado has his sights on WRC3 success and maximum points at the recent round on Gran Canaria has put him in a strong position before the first of the gravel rounds.
He is one of eight drivers chasing WRC3 points this weekend, with fellow Juniors Raúl Hernández, Kerem Kazaz and Ali Türkkan being joined on the bumper Portuguese entry list by Italy’s Matteo Fontana, Frenchman Eric Royère, flying Finn Jarkko Nikara and Peruvian driver André Martínez.
A different driver has won each of the WRC3 rounds so far this season: Royère came out on top from Fontana on the icy roads of the Monte-Carlo Rally and then Fontana prevailed on the snow in Sweden to surge into the championship lead.
Georgios Vasilakis earned maximum points in the Kenyan mud at the Safari Rally and Ali Türkkan’s FIA Junior WRC success in Croatia also netted him maximum WRC3 points.
Membrado, 18, had finished fourth in Sweden and second in Croatia but a good tyre choice netted a timely victory on Gran Canaria and that catapulted the Spaniard into the lead from defending champion Fontana.
Fellow countryman Raúl Hernández, talented Pole Tymek Abramowski and Royère currently round off the top five in the points’ standings.
FIA WRC3 – standings after round 5:
1. Gil Membrado (ESP) 54pts
2. Matteo Fontana (ITA) 50pts
3. Raul Hernandez (ESP) 35pts
4. Tymek Abramowski (POL) 34pts
5. Eric Royere (FRA) 33pts
6. Georgios Vasilakis (GRE) 31pts
7. Ghjuvanni Rossi (FRA) 30pts
8. Ali Turkkan (TUR) 29pts
9. Nicolas Otto (GER) 22pts
10. Nikhil Sachania (KEN) 17pts
10. Kerem Kazaz (TUR) 17pts
12. Naveen Pulligilla (IND) 15pts, etc