Sanremo (IM), 1/04/2017 - Paolo Andreucci and Anna Andreussi, the pairing that has been absolute protagonist of the Italian rally for more than a decade and secured 9 titles, is still hungry and won once again at the 64th Rallye Sanremo. After the hiccup at Ciocco, the Peugeot Italia driver got to Sanremo with the right determination leading throughout the rally and getting the most of the problems of his closest rival in the title hunt, Simone Campedelli, who damaged his Ford Fiesta R5 in an excursion. The full haul in Sanremo gave Andreucci the lead of the classification. Behind Andreucci, the Hyundai i20 driven by Hayden Paddon, as the New Zealander confirmed his exquisite driving skills from WRC to a race completely new to him. Behind Paddon, Umberto Scandola and Guido d’Amore, Skoda Fabia R5, as the Veronese driver had to face also bad luck once again. He suffered a puncture in the third stage and lost a handful of seconds that did not allow him to fight for the victory. Skoda Italia Motorsport’s driver managed to secure some solid points in Sanremo anyway, which keep him in the top part of the classification. Alessandro Perico, also on Skoda Fabia R5, was fourth at the end of a rally he was not completely happy about. This result placed him second in the championship standings. Elwis Chentre and co-driver Fulvio Florean run a solid race on Hyundai i20 R5 and won the Asphalt Trophy. The other CIR crews like Ivan Ferrarotti and Antonio Rusce, have still been trying to clock some miles up on their Ford Fiesta R5, while Andrea Nucita, Skoda Fabia, was hit by bad luck at the start and could not secure the points that match his expectations. The sixteen years old driver Kalle Rovampera, Peugeot 208 T16, run an apprenticeship race and kept clocking further kilometers on the asphalt. Among the races to be highlighted, Fabrizio Andolfi JR’s Abarth 124 Rally was seventh in the absolute classification and led the Italian RGT Championship. In the 2WD Italian Championship Kevin Gilardoni secured the victory on Renault Clio R3T, at the end of a long fight with Riccardo Canzian. The Italo-Swiss keeps therefore the lead in the 2WD championship. The victory of the Junior rally went to Marco Pollara, on the works Peugeot 208 R2, while Luca Bottarelli, also on Peugeot, run a strong race being particularly quick in day two.The Italian R1 championship saw an interesting battle among the class A Twingo R1 and the Suzuki Swift R1 B. The victory in Sanremo went to Alberto Paris, who is also leading the Twingo Trophy. Behind him, Stefano Martinelli on Swift R1 B, who is still leading the Suzuki Rally Trophy and the R1 Italian Championship.

Final Classification 64° Rallye Sanremo. 1. Andreucci-Andreussi (Peugeot 208 T16 R5) in 1:53'35.3; 2. Paddon-Marshall (Hyundai i20 R5) at 38.6; 3. Scandola-D’Amore (Skoda Fabia R5) at 1’16.5; 4.Perico - Turati (Skoda Fabia R5) at 3’34.4; 5. Chentre-Florean (Hyundai i20 R5) at 5’33.3; 6. Ferrarotti-Caputo (Ford Fiesta R5) at 8’33.6;7. Andolfi-Menchini (Abarth 124 Rally) at 9’22.3; 8. Gilardoni-Bonato (Renault Clio R3T) at 12’26.3; 9.Gache-Belhacene (Abarth 124 Rally) at 12’48.3; 10.Pollara-Princiotto (Peugeot 208 T16 R5) at 13’44.5.

CIR Classification.  Andreucci 25,50; Perico 18; Campedelli 16,5; Scandola 15; Chentre 11,50; Ferrarotti 7; Nucita 5,50.

CIR 2WD: Gilardoni 32; Pollara 28,50; Canzian 25,50.

CIR Junior: Pollara 16,5; Bottarelli 14,5; Mazzocchi 11.

CIR Constructors: 1.Peugeot 28,5; Skoda 22.

CIR R1: Martinelli 33; Rosso 29.50.

Rally Asphalt Classification: Chentre 29,50; Ferrarotti 21; Campedelli 18.

Italian RGT: Andolfi 36; Sassi 12.

In the pictures Andreucci-Andreussi (Peugeot 208 T16 R5) the winners of the Rally Sanremo; Paddon-Marshall (Hyundai i20 R5) second absolute and Scandola D'Amore (Skoda Fabia R5) in third.