Lecce, 1 June 2017 – The challenging and fast country roads of the south province of Lecce will stage edition 50 of the Rally of Salento, race organized by Automobile Club di Lecce in collaboration with the Scuderia Piloti Salentini. The rally will be valid for the Italian Rally Championship with coefficient 1.5.
A nice and unusual rally, compared to the other that make up the championship. A race that wants to see the face of drivers, without forgiving any mistakes. Quick and narrow roads, several sprints in between white stone walls ready to stop the run of those drivers daring too much. All the best will be at the start once again and they will definitely enjoy the increased coefficient. Three drivers will battle hard for the Italian Championship: Paolo Andreucci and co-driver Anna Andreussi on Peugeot 208 T16 R5, Umberto Scandola with Guido D’Amore, on Skoda Fabia R5 and Simone Campedelli, with Pietro Elia Ometto, on Ford Fiesta R5. It is difficult to name a favourite to the final win, as the rallies have been tough and uncertain till the end so far. It is a fact though that Paolo Andreucci won three times here and knows the itinerary more than his rivals. Despite of this, the chances of the second in the classification Scandola and those of the third, Campedelli – the latter being the less used to these roads, are quite high too. An eye will have to be kept on the race of Kalle Rovanpera and co-driver Risto Pietilainen, on Peugeot 208 T16 run by F.P.F. Sport. The very young Finn, 16 years old, is destined to become a star of the world rally and is a real specialist of the gravel. He will certainly get the most of the high speed of the roads of Salento and will try and get a good result also on the tarmac. Ivan Ferrarotti with Gaetano Caputo Gaetano at the notes on Ford Fiesta R5 run by Movisport, Antonio Rusce and Sauro Farnocchia, on another Ford Fiesta R5 run by XRace Sport will also try and shine. Some heavy points will also be awarded for the Italian RGT Championship and for the 2WD Championship. The first series sees the Abarth 124 Rally as absolute protagonists. The battle will most probably involve Fabrizio Andolfi Junior, Eurospeed, and Salvatore “Totò” Riolo of CST Sport. In the 2WD Championship, the duel will involve the Italo-Swiss Kevin Gilardoni and Riccardo Canzian both on Renault Clio R3T. The two will also contest the Renault Clio R3 Top. The group of cars taking part in the Italian R1 Championship is quite interesting and numerous as usual. The Suzuki Swift Sport R1B and the Renault Twingo R1 A will challenge each other. Among the first, Stefano Martinelli, Stefano Strabello and Lorenzo Coppe are awaited to a strong result also in the Suzuki Rally Trophy. Among the Twingos, the duel could involve Emanuele Rosso and Filippo Bravi, that will also contest the Renault Twingo Trophy.
The race will start on Friday June 2nd from Piazza Mazzini at 20. The two legs on Saturday and Sunday will go through a liason of 747,90 km, 171,94 of which competitive and split in 14 stages that include all the historic parts of the rally. The Shakedown will take place on Friday from 9 to 16 in Serra di Giuggianello. The headquarters of the event will be based at the sports center La Conca di Muro Leccese that will house race direction, secretariat, timing center and press room as well as regrouping and service parks. The finish line is set in Lecce’s Piazza Mazzini on Sunday June 4th at 16.40.
In the pictures: Andreucci-Andreussi (Peugeot 208 T16 R5); Scandola-D'Amore(Skoda Fabia R5); Rovanpera-Pietilainen (Peugeot 208 T16 R5) during the first rounds of 2017.
