Alba (CN), Friday, June 24, 2022 – The opening day of the Rally of Alba, the fourth round of the Sparco Italian Rally Championship, has been very exciting despite only one test having been run. The sixteenth edition of the rally organized by the Cinzano Rally Team has been very interesting from the shakedown held in the morning. A little taste of the spectacle ahead was then given in the starting ceremony in the city centre with 184 cars at the start. SS1 “985 Santero Spritz” followed. The short Power Stage measuring 2,29 km in San Grato awarded a few points to the top 3 of the Italian championship. Some international drivers slid in among the best coming to the fore in the test integrally broadcast live on TV by RAI Sport and ACI Sport TV, despite being transparent for the CIAR’s classification. Rain spiced things up a little bit as it fell before the start, but then the surface became dry again without affecting the performance of the crews

Fabio Andolfi and Manuel Fenoli, Skoda Fabia Rally 2 went quickest in 1’48.514s. This earned them 3 points for the Championship after the victory in Sanremo. Behind them, Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov, in another Skoda, did not enter the championship and were only 0.07s shy of the leaders. The 2 points valid for the CIAR went therefore to Stefano Albertini and Danilo Fabbiani, in another Skoda Rally2. They were 0.1s off the pace of Andolfi-Fenoli.

Among the foreign outsiders, New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, Hyundai i20, had a good rhythm since the beginning posting the fourth time at 0.4s. The fifth place earned Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Elia Ometto, Citreon C3 Rally2, the final point. Their gap to the top was 0.6s. The reigning champions Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai, Hyundai i20, were further 0.2s short of the lead as they were careful at the start, but their focus remains to gain some ground in the classification. The next three classified were out of the CIAR: these were the French Stephane Lefebvre and Andy Malfoy, Citroen C3, at 0.9’’, Paolo Andreucci and Rudy Briani, Skoda, at 1.2s and the Swiss Jonathan Hirschi and Michael Volluz, Volkswagen Polo, at 2.3s. Teh top ten was rounded off by Giacomo Scattolon and Giovanni Bernacchini, Skoda, at 2.7s.

SS1 challenged some drivers and provided a couple of talking points. Bad luck hit two very strong contenders of the CIAR as the second in the provisional classification Damiano De Tommaso and Giorgia Ascalone, and Tommaso Ciuffi with Nicolò Gonella, all in Skoda Fabia Rally2. The two crews went wide in the same fast corner at the end of the test and damaged the rear left tyre. Ciuffi’s tyre came off and made him lose 16.5s due also to the subsequent spin, while De Tommaso just lost 3.6s.

Stefano Santero and Mirko Pelagantini, Peugeot 208 Rally4, seemed to be at ease on the home turf and posted the fastest time in the CIAR 2WD. They led Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi, Renault Clio Rally4, by 1.6s.

The battle in the single makes trophies has been rather interesting too. In the GR Yaris Rally Cup the Finn Markus Manninen, in the Yaris R1T 4WD National led the pack with a chrono of 2’00.925s, Angelo Pucci Grossi was 0.9s shy of him. The classification leader of Suzuki Rally Cup Matteo Giordano, posted the fastest time among the Swift Hybrid in 2’06.087s, which was 2.8s clear of Giorgio Fichera.

The rally will reach its conclusion on Saturday after 8 more tests and 118,78 competitive km. The challenge will start with the “San Grato” (14,74 km – PS2 at 8:10, PS6 at 14:50) and “Cossano” (14,70 km - PS3 at 8:41, PS7 at 15:21), before continuing with “Borine” (14,93 km - PS4 11:00, PS8 17:40) and “Bossolasco” (14,82 km - PS5 11:31, PS9 18:15). The prize ceremony is scheduled for 19:35 in Alba’s via della Liberazione.

RALLY ALBA CLASSIFICATION AFTER SS1: 1. Andolfi-Fenoli (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) in 1'48.514s; 2. Gryazin-Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) at 0.075s; 3. Albertini-Fappani (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) at 0.189s; 4. Paddon-Kennard (Hyundai I20n R5) at 0.470s; 5. Crugnola-Ometto (Citroen C3 R5) at 0.602s; 6. Basso-Granai (Hyundai I20n R5) at 0.857s; 7. Lefebvre-Malfoy (Citroen C3 R5) at 0.977s; 8. Andreucci-Briani (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) at 1.298s; 9. Hirschi-Volluz (Volkswagen Polo R5) at 2.337s; 10. Scattolon-Bernacchini (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) at 2.743s.

SPARCO CIAR’s STANDINGS after PW Stage of Alba: 1. Crugnola (Citroen C3 Rally2) 67,50pt; 2. De Tommaso (Skoda Fabia Rally2) 61pt; 3. Andolfi (Skoda) 46pt; 4. Albertini (Skoda) 35pt; 5. Basso (Hyundai i20 NRally2) 28pt; 6. Scattolon (Skoda) 23pt; 7. Michelini (Volkswagen Polo GTI Rally2) 11,5pt; 8. Ciuffi (Skoda) - Miele (Skoda) 6pt

CALENDAR OF THE SPARCO ITALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2022: March 4-5 | 45° Rally Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio; April 8-9| 69° Rallye Sanremo; May 6-7 | 106° Targa Florio (coeff. 1,5); June 24-25 | 16° Rally di Alba; July 22-24 | Rally di Roma Capitale; August 26-27 | 45° Rally 1000 Miglia; October 7-8 | 40° Rally Due Valli Coeff. 1,5