The Milanese won the Women’s Cup of the 2021 Italian Rally Championship and plans 2022 in the ERC European Championship. “I have been sick since I was a child: thanks to research I can compete and help those who are worse off than me”
A tricolor title put on the bulletin board at the Rally 1000 Miglia, when mathematics decreed Rachele Somaschini winner of the Women’s Cup of the Italian Rally Championship 2021, and new challenges between asphalts and dirt roads in Europe, with a weekend of 19 September in the sign of the Rally delle Azores, valid for the FIA ERC European Championship. The season of the Milanese driver, born in 1994, is starting to end with a positive balance, certifying the ambitions of a professional who has always made motorsport and social commitment an inseparable combination, based on the #CorsaPerUnRespiro project destined to fight against cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that has afflicted Somaschini since she was a child.
RACHELE SOMASCHINI: THE STORY
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“When I realized that thanks to scientific research I could realize my dream of racing in a car – explains Somaschini – I tried to create something for those who are worse off than me. Thus was born the project ‘Running for a breath’ with which we take care of awareness and fundraising for research. Only with projects related to motorsport we have exceeded the 250,000 euro mark collected and donated in ten years; expanding the circle also to events not related to car racing, we exceed € 1 million “. All in favor of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation.
somaschini FROM THE TRACK TO THE RALLY
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Raising public awareness of cystic fibrosis (a genetic disease that affects the respiratory system in particular), and at the same time giving concrete help to the many who are affected by this pathology, is the mission of the aforementioned project. Ever since Rachele Somaschini started racing at the age of 19. “I started from the track in 2014, the first race was the Intereuropa Cup in Monza, with my father, aboard an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint; then I did the uphill race Trento-Bondone, and in 2015 the entire Italian Hill Climb Championship, winning my debut in my category – he says – In 2016 I took part in the Mini Challenge, winning it; in 2016-17 I was first in Mountain Speed and in 2018 I took part in the entire Italian Rally Championship “. These are the main stages of a path that saw Somaschini also at the start of three WRC World Championship races, in 2020.
BETWEEN BRESCIA AND THE AZORES
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A path full of nuances and feats for Rachele Somaschini, who in 2021, as anticipated, won the women’s flag at the wheel of her R5 class Citroën C3, before flying to Sardinia to participate in the Italian Rally Land Championship, and to the Azores , stage of the European Championship. The car? In the rally organized on the Portuguese islands, in the middle of the Atlantic, it is the same class winner Citroën at the Rally 1000 Miglia, which first traveled on “rubber” for 2 thousand kilometers to Setúbal, then aboard a ferry for three days, arriving at their destination in time for the race week. “I prefer the earth” smiles the 27-year-old driver, who looks to the next few months with growing ambitions. “In this 2021 I should have participated in the entire European championship, but I did not find the necessary budget: fortunately we were able to gear up to be present at two, maybe three races, but in 2022 the goal is to be there with an R5 car for everyone. the rounds “.
SOMASCHINI: CYSTIC FIBROSIS
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While participating in the Rally of the Azores, Rachele Somaschini organizes a return to Italy which will coincide with some medical therapies. “In October there is a plan to start therapy with a ‘miracle’ drug, at least according to what is learned from the United States, where it came from – says the pilot – I will have to spend a few days in the hospital for the ritual, so I will be able to treat myself from home: it is not an invasive therapy, it is about taking tablets that can help us improve all the symptoms of cystic fibrosis, a disease that affects in a very different way: I discovered it when I was ten years old , today I am relatively well, I can do my sporting activity, training every day, and dedicating four hours a day to therapy ”.
WORLD WRC: THE FORECASTS OF SOMASCHINI
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Temper, character and good humor are not lacking in Rachele Somaschini, who is confirming her skills at the wheel of her Citroën C3 also in the 2021 season. “How does the disease limit me? Therapy is now a habit, but the real limitation is the unpredictability: you can feel great one day, and be knocked out the next, ”he explains. And looking at the season finale of international competitions, Rachele Somaschini makes the cards at the WRC World Championship (which will end the 2021 vintage in Monza): “I think Sébastien Ogier on Toyota Yaris will win again, but I would like it to be his Comrade Elfyn Evans. Rovanperä? In Greece the Acropolis Rally was exceptional. I hope that from 2022 it will become the reference point of the world championship “.
4 October – 18:48
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