Seb Perez wins island rally in Mallorca with his dad not far behind

Seb and Steve Perez along with their cars and co-drivers in Mallorca.

The 22-year-old took to the wheel of his classic Dansport-prepared Amigos Tequila Beer-sponsored 1974 Porsche 911 RS, with navigator Gary McElhinney by his side.

Perez had his sights on a second rally win after taking the crown in 2020, although among his competitors would be dad Steve, racing his first rally for four years after a serious accident in Belgium in 2018 and competing in a Franklin and Son-sponsored Ford Escort MK2 RS1800, also prepared by Chesterfield’s Dansport, alongside regular co-driver Paul Spooner.

Over 40 classic rally machines lined the front at Almira Capital Puerto Portals, as one of the most important motor tests in Europe took place, bringing together great national and international drivers to the Balearic island for one of the most prestigious international sports events on the motor sport calendar

Seb Perez and co-driver Gary McElhinney celebrate their win.

The tarmac rally will consisted of around 500 kilometres which included 15 special stages of around 200km of closed tarmac road sections.

The first day of the 2022 test consisted of three night stages, starting with SS1 Coll Sa Creu – Caviá which Perez led and was fastest completing the 12.94km stage in 9m.08.06s, just over one minute ahead of dad Steve who lay in seventh place. Seb maintained leadership after being second fastest on stage two but having taken command again on the final stage of day one.

After winning two out of the three night stages the British pilots had a small advantage of only 0.3 seconds in their classic Carrera RS over second place to Galiana and Flores in their Escort

Day two saw six demanding tight and twisty tarmac stages to be contended, the rally master Seb winning five of them on roads as spectacular as the legendary stage of Sa Calobra, with a meandering slope of 12 kilometres and its famous 360 degree ‘tie knot’ curve.

Steve Perez in action on the Spanish island.

By the end of SS4 Coll Sa Creu - Coll d'Estords Steve was in fourth spot, 36 seconds behind Seb and putting the pressure on his son. A stage later and Steve had mastered the Escort into second place, seeing Seb in third behind him for a short spell.

By SS6, a re-run of Coll Sa Creu - Coll d'Estords, Seb and McElhinney were commanding the rally and stayed in top spot for the remaining four stages of the day, with a 15 second lead and hoping for a faultless drive on the final day.

Steve encountered some electrical gremlins that pushed him and navigator Spooner back to 14th place by the end of SS6 before pushing the Escort to its limits, finishing the day 37 seconds off Seb but back into fourth spot on the rally.

Seb dominated the final day, finishing all five stages fastest. SS11 was cancelled, torrential rain battering the competitors for most of the day but to Perez junior’s delight given he is a rain and tarmac expert.

SS10 Pollença – Lluc saw Steve blast the Escort into second spot on the rally but Seb held onto a 25 second lead over him.

By the end of SS15 Coll d'Estords - Coll Sa Creu, Seb had taken the flag and first home, while Steve finished in fourth place overall and piped to the post to get on the podium.

Perez and McElhinney dominated the rally, leading and sweeping the road throughout from start to finish, winning 12 out of the 14 stages and leaving the 21 finishers in the dust behind.

Seb said: “I’m really happy and it was a great result after winning here in 2020.

"The car ran faultlessly from start to finish with a big thanks to Gary at the side of me keeping me on the road and the Dansport Team for the usual first class support.

“The rain on Saturday helped us a little bit being used to competing in rain and on tarmac. We are hoping for another good weekend out here this week and then back to Wales in a few weeks time for the North Wales Stages Rally in the Escort.”

Steve said: “It’s been a fantastic weekend, I am really happy with the fourth place finish and had a battle trying to get a podium spot and unfortunately didn’t work out but I have thoroughly enjoyed coming back and it’s a rally that means a lot to the family.”

This weekend Seb Perez will be competing in Mallorca’s second rally of the season, the Rally Ciutat de Manacor (18-19 March) in the Porsche, before getting back on home soil in the Escort for the WKD Trained Dogs North Wales Stages Rally (26th March)