Goosebumps atmosphere on the opening day of the Alba Rally, the fourth race of the Absolute Italian Rally Championship which has already given emotions with just a special stage.
The sixteenth edition of the challenge organized by Cinzano Rally Team immediately got up to speed from the shakedown, in the preparatory tests held in the morning.
Then he gave a taste of the show with the starting ceremony in the city center, which saw 184 cars at the start, followed by the main course on Friday with the PS1 “985 Santero Spritz”. The short initial Power Stage, 2.29 km long of asphalt in the San Grato area, has already awarded some points to the top three classified for the Italian flag.
Among the best times in practice, some international drivers were also included, transparent for the purposes of the CIAR classification. The rain also added adrenaline, falling just before the start on the test, which however soon returned dry without affecting the performance of the crews.
To snatch the first absolute time were Fabio Andolfi and Manuel Fenoli on Skoda Fabia Rally 2 in 1’48.514. So first place in the race standings and 3 points earned for the championship Savona, already winner in the second act in Sanremo.
Behind him second position for Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov, on other Skoda not registered in the championship, with a very minimum margin of 7 hundredths of a second. The 2 points for CIAR therefore go to Stefano Albertini and Danilo Fabbiani, on another Bohemian Rally2, 1 tenth of a second away from Andolfi-Fenoli.
Among the foreign outsiders also the New Zealander Hayden Paddon, with John Kennard in a Hyundai i20, who manages to have a good impact immediately and marks the fourth time in qualifying, 0 “4 from the top.
In any case, the fifth position allows to conquer the last point for the Championship made available in the power stage to the leaders Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Elia Ometto on Citreon C3 Rally2, who closed the test with a gap of 0 “6.
A little more margin, just 2 tenths, for the reigning champions Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai on Hyundai i20, who remained cautious about the start but motivated to try to make up ground in the standings in this halfway point of the Absolute tricolor.
Then a trio of crews out of the classification for the CIAR, but immediately entered into the fight for the best placements in the race, with the French Stephane Lefebvre and Andy Malfoy in a Citroen C3 at 0 “9, the Italian multiple champion Paolo Andreucci with Rudy Briani in a Skoda the Swiss Jonathan Hirschi and Michael Volluz on Volkswagen Polo complete the first ten provisional positions at 1 “2 and more detached at 2” 3. Giacomo Scattolon and Giovanni Bernacchini, on Skoda, at 2 “7.
The PS1 in addition to the tussle and a very short ranking has already put some drivers in the championship in difficulty and offered a couple of episodes to underline.
In fact, bad luck immediately struck two very popular standard bearers for CIAR, such as the second absolute Damiano De Tommaso with Giorgia Ascalone and Tommaso Ciuffi with Nicolò Gonella, both on Skoda Fabia Rally2.
Both crews came out too wide from the same fast corner at the end of the test and both damaged the left rear. Wheel detached in the case of Ciuffi, who lost 16 “5 in all with a consequent spin, while De Tommaso did better, only 3” 6 behind the top.
Stefano Santero proves to be at ease on his home roads already at the first time trial, who paired with Mirko Pelagantini on a Peugeot 208 Rally4 snatches the best time for the CIAR Two Wheel Drive, with 1.6 ” ahead of Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi on Renault Clio Rally4.
On Saturday the rally will be completed with the hot phase, scheduled for 8 other special stages, for a further 118.78 timed kilometers. It will start again from “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), and then go to “Borine” (14.93 km – PS4 11:00, PS8 17:40) and “Bossolasco” (14.82 km – PS5 11:31, PS9 18:15) for closure. The arrival and the final ceremony are scheduled from 7:35 pm in via della Liberazione in Alba.
ABSOLUTE RALLY RALLY DI ALBA AFTER PS1
1. Andolfi-Fenoli (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) in 1’48.514; 2. Gryazin-Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) A 0.075; 3. Albertini-Fappani (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) A 0.189; 4. Paddon-Kennard (Hyundai I20n R5) A 0.470; 5. Crugnola-Ometto (Citroen C3 R5) A 0.602; 6. Low-Granaries (Hyundai I20n R5) At 0.857; 7. Lefebvre-Malfoy (Citroen C3 R5) A 0.977; 8. Andreucci-Briani (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) A 1,298; 9. Hirschi-Volluz (Volkswagen Polo R5) A 2,337; 10. Scattolon-Bernacchini (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) A 2,743
CIAR SPARCO RANKING after Power Stage in Alba
1. Crugnola (Citroen C3 Rally2) 67,50pt; 2. De Tommaso (Skoda Fabia Rally2) 61pt; 3. Andolfi (Skoda) 46pt; 4. Albertini (Skoda) 35pt; 5. Low (Hyundai i20 NRally2) 28pt; 6. Scattolon (Skoda) 23pt; 7. Michelini (Volkswagen Polo GTI Rally2) 11.5pt; 8. Tufts (Skoda) – Honey (Skoda) 6pt
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