Alba (CN), Saturday, April 13th, 2024 - A fast right-hand corner, perhaps underestimated during the recce, with the car losing grip and sliding towards the outside, making firm contact with the left side. At that moment, the hopes of Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Elia Ometto to win another round in the Sparco Absolute Rally Championship were dashed, with the driver from Varese continuing despite a delay of over 3 minutes from the lead. This incident gave Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai, in a Toyota GR Yaris, the green light. At that moment, they were just 11 seconds behind the leaders. From the seventh stage and for another three timed sections, Basso continued to attack at the front, keeping his direct competitors in check in the thrilling battle for victory at the 18th Rally Regione Piemonte, an exciting challenge organized by the Cinzano Rally Team. Among the exceptional protagonists were also the French duo Stéphane Lefebvre and Antony Hamard, who, despite initial problems with the Citroen C3's pop-off valve, recovered on the second day of the race, finishing second overall, just 3.1 seconds behind. However, the Frenchman's placement is irrelevant to the Italian Championship standings and points allocation. Thus, the third place overall - 4.1 seconds behind the leader - for Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton, driving a Skoda Fabia, takes on a whole new meaning. After a challenging first part of the rally, the Romagnolo managed to maintain high concentration to capitalize on his opponents' mistakes in the final stages and get the most out of a difficult outing. Fourth was the surprise of the race, Marco Signor, an undoubtedly fast and experienced driver but never so decisive in an Absolute Rally event. Together with Daniele Michi in another Skoda Fabia RS, the driver from Treviso earned excellent points for the top series already in the Power Stage, ultimately securing his second consecutive victory and full points for the Italian Promotion Rally Championship.

Many came very close to challenging for top positions until the end; notably, ACI Team Italia driver Roberto Daprà with Luca Guglielmetti, a crew also in the World Rally Championship, was slowed down by an off-road excursion towards the end. Fifth place thus went to Giacomo Scattolon and Gabriele Zanni, in their Citroen C3, adept at avoiding risks in a second round useful for refining their new weapon and securing excellent points with second place in the Promotion Rally Championship. Sixth place therefore went to the timeless Paolo Andreucci, paired with Rudy Briani in a Citroen. For the Tuscan multiple Italian champion, another participation also aimed at developing his MRF Tyres. Then, Alessandro Re took Seventh and eighth place with Marco Vozzo, very fast towards the end with their Volkswagen Polo, and Francesco Aragno with Giancarla Guzzi, in a Skoda. Rounding off the top ten were Ivan Ferrarotti with Massimo Bizzocchi and Antonio Rusce with Sauro Farnocchia, both aboard Skodas.

On such technical and challenging special stages, the first round of the Italian Junior Rally Championship immediately proved to be an important testing ground for the young talents of ACI Team Italia, all aboard Renault Clio Rally 5 cars prepared by Motorsport Italia. Starting with 10 from the heart of Alba with high ambitions, in the end, 9 crossed the finish line, already an excellent result considering how this race put even world-class champions to the test, forcing many to retire. On the 10 special stages, everything and more happened among the young Italian drivers, with the fight for victory turning into a nail-biting finish. In the end, Matteo Doretto, navigated by Marco Frigo, clinched it with an incredible burst of speed on the final stage, finishing just 3 tenths of a second ahead after 111 km, beating Marco Zanin and Fabio Pizzol. The winners were in second place with a 4.6-second gap before PS10, seemingly an insurmountable distance on a single stage, but not for Doretto, who with a sudden burst of energy, made up 5 seconds net, thus securing the victory. Previously, however, it had been Iani-Cecchetto and Dei Ceci-Lazzarini who had firmly dominated the top of the leaderboard: the former retired due to an exit in PS7, while the latter made a mistake on the final stage, losing over a minute. Taking advantage of the situation were Zanin-Pizzol, second at the finish but outwitted at the end, who nonetheless confirmed the promise they had shown last year when they had finished second in the championship. Andrea Boatti, navigated by Manuela Pellatti, immediately secured a podium in his first CIAR Junior outing, crossing the finish line 43 seconds behind the winner.

In the CIAR 2WD, the Langhe region smiled upon Gianandrea Pisani and Massimo Moriconi, reigning champions among the front-wheel-drive cars and already winners of the first round at Ciocco. The Tuscan driver was unstoppable on the challenging roads of Alba, extending a lead of as much as 25 seconds over everyone else in his Peugeot 208. The only one to come close to the dominance of the driver from Pietrasanta was Giorgio Cogni, partnered with Simone Brachi in another French car, who managed to set the fastest time, just 3 tenths, on PS8. Christopher Lucchesi Jr. and Enrico Bracchi rounded off the 2WD podium, with a gap of 59.8 seconds from the winner.

A nice duel between Salvatore Lo Cascio, navigated by Gianfrancesco Maria Rappa, and Thomas Paperini with Andrea Gabelloni, characterized the opening round of the fourth edition of the GR Yaris Rally Cup. Taking the lead was the Tuscan Paperini, who won the first timed sections, always closely followed by the Sicilian driver. Towards the end, Paperini slowed down, while Lo Cascio launched the decisive attack in the final stage, where he put more than six seconds ahead of his opponent. The performance of the third classified driver was steady and fast, the Venetian Jacopo Facco with Nicola Doria, who held the third position practically from the start.

The Rally Regione Piemonte confirms the leadership in the 1st Zone Rally Cup for Elwis Chentre, with Massimiliano Bay in a Skoda, dominant in past editions and immediately at the top in this new season. Second place in the CRZ for Gagliasso-Beltramo, with the Santini brothers taking third place for a trio of Skodas.
FINAL CLASSIFICATION 18th RALLY REGIONE PIEMONTE: 1. Basso-Granai (Toyota Gr Yaris R5) In 1:09'47.2; 2. Lefebvre-Hamard (Citroen C3 R5) +3.1; 3. Campedelli-Canton (Skoda Fabia R5) +4.1; 4. Signor-Michi (Skoda Fabia R5) +13.0; 5. Scattolon-Zanni (Citroen) +54.6; 6. Andreucci-Briani (Citroen) +58.5; 7. Re-Vozzo (Volkswagen Polo) +1'01.9; 8. Aragno-Guzzi (Skoda) +2'00.9; 9. Ferrarotti-Bizzocchi (Skoda) +2'02.9; 10. Rusce-Farnocchia (Skoda) +2'20.4;

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION SPARCO CIAR: 1. Basso-Granai 27pt; 2. Campedelli-Canton 23pt; 3. Crugnola-Ometto 19pt; 4. Signor-Michi 17pt; 5. Scattolon-Zanni 11pt; 6. Andreucci-Briani 10pt; 7. Nucita-Pollet 9.5pt; 5.; 8. Bottarelli-Fenoli, Re-Vozzo 5pt; 9. Aragno-Guzzi 4pt; 10. Ferrarotti-Bizzocchi 3pt;

ITALIAN CIAR RALLY SPARCO 2024: March 15-16 | Rally il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio; April 12-13 | Rally Regione Piemonte; May 10-11 | Rally Targa Florio (coeff. 1,5); May 26-29 | Rally Due Valli; July 26-28 | Rally di Roma Capitale (coeff. 1,5); September 13-14 | Rally 1000 Miglia; October 18-19 | Rally Sanremo (coeff. 1,5)

 

 

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