Villamartin (Spain), May 13 (PTI) Sebastian Buhler was third fastest while Franco Caimi finished fourth in the first stage of the Andalucia Rally, helping Hero MotoSports Team Rally make a promising start here on Thursday.

Joaquim Rodrigues, who had to deal with the challenging task of opening the stage, made a navigation mistake and lost some time in finding his way.

However, overall, he managed to tackle the stage well and made it to the finish line in the ninth place.

Today's solid effort from the riders resulted in Buhler retaining the third place in the overall standings, Franco holding onto to his spot in the top-5 at the fourth place and Rodrigues was in the eight position.

A little shorter than the rest of the stages at 177kms of timed special section, the stage tested competitors with medium fast tracks in the same zone as last year but split into two similar sections separated by the neutralization zones.

Poor morning visibility made it a tough start for the riders and then tall grass and the ruts added to the challenge further.

Friday's stage will be a run of 451km, including the longest special stage at 339 kms that will finish near Coripe, before bringing the riders back to the bivouac in Villamartin.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)