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ERC Junior Azores Rallye day three report: Gago gets maiden triumph on his comeback

Diogo Gago claimed a fine first victory in the ERC Junior Championship, exclusively supplied by Pirelli, after returning to the category for his home round.

Following an entertaining first leg, the Portuguese Peugeot driver took the lead for a fourth time on Saturday's opening stage and held it until the end, opening up a winning margin of 1m12.4s over Chris Ingram.

Marijan Griebel briefly led over the first and second nights, but crashed out on SS12 in his attempts to respond to Gago's pace.

Ingram, who beat Gago to take his own first ERC Junior win in the Azores 12 months ago, had led on Friday before a puncture, but a second runner-up position in two events moves the Opel Rallye Junior Team driver into the points lead.

Joining Griebel in retirement was Circuit of Ireland winner Łukasz Pieniążek after a mechanical failure while fourth on the final afternoon.

As in 2015, Steve Røkland completed the podium, also counting for ERC3, this time in his first drive in a Ford Fiesta R2T run for him by M-Sport.

Finn Joonas Tokee took fourth on his debut, and was ahead of Røkland before suffering issues on his Peugeot throughout the final day.

Zdroj: fiaerc.com