
Carlos Moreno and Esther de la Torre (Automóvil Club Rincón Seca) have won the ninth edition of the Rally Valle del Almanzora-Sierra de Filabres that has been held this weekend in what has been the inaugural round of the Andalusian Championship of Asphalt Rally and Regularity 2023.
With a best time of 51 minutes and 21 seconds, Moreno and de La Torre were the fastest with Skoda Fabia R2 in the eleven timed sections, 1 minute and 58 seconds behind Antonio Molina and Alejandro Castillejo (Automóvil Club Almería) with Peugeot 208-R2 in second position and 4:10 behind locals José Miguel López Mañas and Miguel Motoya with Clío in third place.
The rally got underway on Friday night with the first timed stage held in the town centre of Olula del Río, which was just four kilometres long and was marked by intermittent rain and low temperatures. The duo formed by Moreno and De la Torre took the first scratch of the event thanks to a best time of 3 minutes and 8 seconds. Antonio Molina and Alejandro Castillejo from Almeria set the second fastest time with another R2, a Peugeot 208, which was only three thousandths of a second slower. With Mario Morillo in third place, just over two minutes behind, the first day of competition in the first rally of the year came to an end, where the great favourite for victory and five-time winner of this sporting event, José Antonio Aznar from Almeria, co-driven by Pablo Sánchez, could only finish thirteenth.
On Saturday morning at 9am, the competition resumed with the first of three runs to Zurgena. During the liaison section and without even having started the race, Aznar had to abandon the competition due to mechanical problems in his Porsche 997 and left the way open for the fight for the final victory to the remaining twenty or so competitors in the speed category. In this first section, the Moreno/De la Torre tandem won again ahead of the Clío of Domingo González and Nerea Trujillo from Cadiz, 11 seconds behind, and 13 seconds ahead of Molina and Castillejo from Almeria.

Then, the starting gun was fired for the first section of Albanchez again with Moreno in the lead, together with Molina who was second at +13.4 seconds and Sergio Capel who was third at 19.7 seconds with a brand new Peugeot 308 Racing Cup which he was driving for the first time for the occasion.
This same podium was also repeated in the TC B2, in the second pass through Zurgena, where in addition to the fight for the victory in the accumulated classification, another parallel battle was fought in the FAA Promotion Cup, with eight registered competitors in this first Almeria rally.
In the second pass through Albanchez (TC- C2) little or nothing would change at the top of the table where the fight for the first three places continued in the hands of Moreno, Molina and Capel. In the FAA Cup, the 17 year old from Almeria, Francisco Manuel Puertas, together with José Manuel Sánchez Acacio in a Toyota Aygo, took the scratch ahead of the Audi A-1 of Juan Jesús Coca from Córdoba and also of Alejandro Leseduarte from Almeria, the current Andalusian Rally Champion for co-drivers, who was making his debut as a driver at the wheel of a Peugeot 206.
At around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the rally caravan made its last pass through Zurgena, where Carlos Moreno continued to lead once again, with the permission of Sergio Capel and Mario Morillo; after which the green light was immediately given for a final section through Albanchez, with Moreno, Molina and Capel this time as the main protagonists.
After a two-hour break, the afternoon loop started at 5 o’clock with the first pass through the urban section of Líjar. Moreno once again scored a scratch and once again demonstrated his clear dominance in the race, with a lead of almost 2 minutes over his closest rivals. Back in Olula del Río (TC E-1), Moreno and De la Torre had a run off the track which relegated them to fourteenth position and they lost the ample accumulated advantage in favour of Mario Morillo, who with Citroën AX did the best time this time.
With the fall of the afternoon and without natural light, the last two stages were disputed in Líjar, where Moreno was once again unbeatable and repeated his victory ahead of Francisco Martos and José Miguel López Mañas, who alternated second and third place, after the retirement of both Sergio Capel and Mario Morillo.
The other podiums of the rally
In the Promotion Cup of the Andalusian Automobile Federation – FAA Cup – victory for Juan Jesús Coca and Luisa Benítez (Escudería Sierra Morena) with Audi A1, followed by brothers Fernando and Aitor Cruz (ACA) with Fiat Punto and Alejandro Leseduarte/Francisco Gilbert with Peugeot 206.
The trophy for best junior driver of the rally went to Fernando Cruz from Almeria and the best junior co-driver went to Nerea Trujillo from Cadiz. On the other hand, the best female of the rally was the sportswoman from Ubrique, Esther de la Torre.
Finally, in the trophy of the provincial motor racing cup ‘Diputación de Almería 2023′, Antonio Molina won in the drivers’ category and Alejandro Castillejo in the co-drivers’ category.
In the Regularity category, victory in the Regularity Sport category went to the Malaga team of José Ignacio García Bejarano and José Casado in a Volkswagen Golf, while in the Regularity Classic category the podium went to Antonio Hernández and José Luque in a Talbot Samba.
The next round of the Campeonato Andaluz de Rallys de Asfalto y Regularidad (CARA) will take place in Córdoba with the 40th edition of the Rally Sierra Morena on the 17th and 18th of March.