Exciting head-to-head at the top of the fifth round of the FIA European Rally Championship and the Sparco Italian Absolute Rally Championship. After the six special stages of today’s stage Tempestini’s gap is just 7 tenths. Six drivers in contention for the podium.
Fiuggi, 27th July 2024 – It was a very tight Rally di Roma Capitale that today ran its first real long stage around Fiuggi. At the end of today’s almost 100 timed kilometres, divided into six special stages, the difference between the first two crews is only 7 tenths, one of the shortest gaps in the history of the event organised by Motorsport Italia and Max Rendina.
In the lead are Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Elia Ometto, in a Citroen C3 Rally2, current leaders of the Sparco Italian Absolute Rally Championship. Crugnola’s day was lived on two levels: a very positive morning with two special stage victories and an afternoon where the Italian driver perhaps played more with strategy in mind for the CIAR points. Passing second after SS6, Crugnola finished the day in the lead on the last test.
Second place for Simone Tempestini and Sergio Itu, running under the Romanian flag, in the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. The winners of the Vezprém Rally Hungary, the first round of the FIA European Rally Championship, had a really consistent day winning two special stages including the second passage on the long ‘Santopadre-Fontana Liri’ which went to Crugnola in the morning.
The gaps are short even beyond the top two. Mathieu Franceschi and Andy Malfoy, in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, are third and confirm their extraordinary state of form, which this year has seen them always protagonists on the European scene. The French crew is 4.9 seconds behind the leaders and holds a margin of just nine tenths over Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2). The two Italians moved up to fourth place after winning SS7 ‘Guarcino-Altipiani’, which allowed them to overtake the reigning European champions, New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon and John Kennard on the Hyundai i20 N Rally2, fifth at 7.2 seconds. The fight for the podium also includes the rediscovered Efrèn Llarena and Sara Fernandèz (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) in great form in the afternoon repeat of the special stages.
Difficulties instead for Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. The Venetian, who arrived at the Rally di Roma Capitale with the second place in the CIAR Sparco ready to bring his attack on Crugnola, had a complex day where he was not able to drive as he would have liked and in the final he was also slowed down by a puncture. He currently occupies 11th place in the overall standings.
In the Italian Promotion classification Bostjan Avbelj (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) leads with Damijan Andrejka, winners of the first passage on ‘Alatri’ and seventh overall. The Slovenian precedes series challengers Roberto Daprà and Luca Guglielmetti (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), eighth overall. Ostberg-Barth (Citroen C3 Rally2) and Mabellini-Lenzi (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) close out the top ten.
This afternoon also saw the start of the Rally di Roma Capitale CRZ, valid for the 8th Zone Rally Cup, which also promises some good challenges. During the first three stages of the first leg, the top protagonists included ‘Dedo’-Daddoveri (Skoda Fabia RS), Liburdi-Silvaggi (Hyundai i20), Giannetti-Lepore (Skoda Fabia R5) at 8.6 and De Santis-Sigismondi (Volskwagen Polo). The Coppa Rally di Zona race will end tomorrow with three more stages, the same as the main event, and will arrive in Fiuggi at the tail end of the FIA ERC/CIAR.
The second day will start at 7am with a short service at the paddock. The PS8 ‘Fiuggi’ will start at 7:50 and then it will be the turn of the ‘Rocca di Cave-Subiaco’, the queen stage of the entire championship from the height of its 32.3 kilometres. The ‘Monastero-Jenne’ will close the round. After the service the competitors will return to the same stages for the last lap, before the finish in Fiuggi from 17:15. The Coppa Rally di Zona will run the same stages, albeit with a shortened version of the long Rocca di Cave.
The race will be broadcast live non-stop on demand on Rally.tv, while ACI Sport TV will connect live from the mid-day regrouping and the final finish. RAI Play will broadcast live PS10 and PS13, the last one. So there will be no shortage of opportunities to follow the race from home as well.
