The Viana do Castelo Rally, which was to be the first tarmac event of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup, was postponed this Saturday as a result of the heat wave sweeping the Iberian Peninsula and the high risk of fire in this area of Portugal.

This weekend's extreme heat in Viana do Castelo led the Portuguese authorities to raise the forest fire risk level to critical, the highest on the scale for Portugal. As a result, the organization of the event took the decision to postpone it.

A new date for the rally will be announced in the coming weeks. The decision made this Saturday morning to postpone it did not prevent the first special stage of the race from being held on Friday, in the town of Viana do Castelo, a section that had a notable turnout of spectators.

With an entry list reaching 80 participants, and with a wide variety of racing cars, Ricardo Costa and Rui Vilaça (Macedo & Macedo GTW Racing) masterfully set the best overall time in this section. This way, the Toyota GR Yaris RZ was at the top of the unofficial classification, given that the results achieved are not relevant given the postponement of the rest of the event.

Nonetheless, it has highlighted the performance of the GR Yaris RZ against competing racers and cars who literally flew the Toyota GR Yaris RZ through the streets of Viana do Castelo, demonstrating that the reliability shown on gravel also holds true on asphalt, as they were able to fight for the top positions in the general classification.

And to confirm this result, 5 more TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup drivers made it into the Top 10 times of the superspecial: Dani Berdomás (Grupo Breogán), Miguel Campos (Inside Motor), Fran Cima (Asturhíbrido) and the newcomer Pedro Lago (Team Caetano).

After the postponement of the rally, the organizers and drivers will meet to discuss alternative and beneficial solutions for all participants, before the next event of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup, the Rally Princesa de Asturias which will take place at the beginning of next September.

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