Unstoppable, leaving no room for replies, Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Ometto scored their fifth seasonal victory at the 47th Rally 1000 Miglia and confirmed themselves as Italian Champions with one race to spare. The centre of Brescia was painted red to celebrate the fourth career title for the driver from Varese and the navigator from Vicenza, always together on the FPF Sport Citroen C3 Rally2 with Pirelli tyres, which completed an unrivalled technical package this year too.
Even a second place would have been enough for him, yet Crugnola started from the first test with the sole objective of bringing home the five in six rounds faced in the Sparco Absolute Italian Rally Championship, without accepting compromises. He succeeded with yet another impeccable performance, made up of 8 scratch in 11 special tests snatched on the 100 kilometers of asphalt in the province of Brescia, including the success on the Power stage and on the long “Pertiche” at night, the icing on the cake on his fourth championship and third consecutive (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024). A triumph that makes him the third most successful driver in the history of the Italian Rally Championship, on a par with Arnaldo Cavallari and Giandomenico Basso, behind only other legends such as Dario Cerrato (5 titles) and Paolo Andreucci (11).
Despite another excellent performance, Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton were unable to erase the match point for Crugnola-Ometto and once again had to settle for second place. Also in this fifth round, the Cesena native on the Skoda Fabia RS represented the most concrete threat for the champions, tied with the same time in a special stage but, little by little, at the finish line the gap increased to 23.7”. A result that nevertheless confirms Campedelli-Canton as the second force in the championship. On the other hand, something was missing for Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai, who got into the rhythm too late on their GR Yaris Rally2 to try to fight for the title until the end. In the end, the official crew of the Japanese manufacturer achieved 4th place overall, just a hair’s breadth from the podium on which Stefano Albertini and Danilo Fappani instead climbed. The winners of last year’s 1000 Miglia in a Skoda Fabia first tried to attack Campedelli, also grabbing second place on Saturday thanks to an excellent first loop, and after the Cesena native returned to the attack they managed the advantage over their pursuers for 3rd place.
The young Andrea Mabellini navigated by Virginia Lenzi on another Czech car then showed a different pace, certainly more competitive than in the previous rounds. The MRF standard-bearer started on Friday from 2nd place, then slipped, test after test, to 5th place, thus confirming the result obtained in Rome. For Roberto Daprà instead came the first victory in the Italian Rally Promozione Championship. The talent of ACI Team Italia, on a Skoda RS shared with Luca Guglielmetti, closed the race in crescendo with a 2nd overall time at the end, obtained not by chance to get the better of Bostjan Avbelj and Damijan Andrejka. The Slovenian crew – with the driver who however has an Italian license – in fact had to run a race chasing after losing 13” on PS2, following a spin, closing with the best scratch in the final “Pertiche” at 1.9” from Daprà. 8th place in the heart of Brescia for Nucita-Pollet on Hyundai i10, with the Sicilian driver who however was physically ill during the second day of the race. Finally, they closed the first 10 positions of the Rally 1000 Miglia Re-Vozzo, the only ones on board a Volkswgen Polo and who thus climb onto the podium of the Promozione, and Scattolon-Magrini on Citroen C3.
The Italian Absolute Two-Wheel Drive Championship in Brescia experienced a different round, characterized by the absences of Pisani and Lucchesi but inflamed by the duel between Gabriel Di Pietro and Giorgio Cogni. In the end, after a tense fight, the former won, on a Peugeot 208 and paired with Andrea Dresti, in a result that smells of redemption after the bad luck at the beginning of the season. However, Cogni, consistent in all rounds of the year and launched by the victory with an increased coefficient in Rome, thanks to this 2nd place, jumps with Simone Brachi to the top of the Championship. The challenge for the title will thus end only in Sanremo.
Francesco Dei Ceci instead managed to stop Matteo Doretto from winning the Italian Absolute Junior Rally Championship with a round to spare. The driver from Rocca d’Evandro, paired with Nicolò Lazzarini, managed to obtain victory in the youth series, aboard one of the Renault Clio Rally5s prepared by Motorsport Italia and fitted with Pirelli tyres, finishing ahead by just 6.8”. Doretto, navigated by Marco Frigo, duelled for a long time to snatch victory, but in the end, given the advance of his rival, he managed it, postponing the score to the final in Sanremo. Third place for Zanin-Pizzol who suffered above all from a wrong choice of tyres in the night race.
Among the trophies, the triumph of Thomas Paperini and Andrea Gabelloni arrived, who raised the GR Yaris Rally Cup 2024 to the sky, while in the Suzuki Rally Cup the Sicilian Giorgio Fichera obtained his second victory of the season paired with Enzo Colombaro.
1000 MIGLIA RALLY RANKING: 1. Crugnola-Ometto (Citroen C3) in 1:04’22.3; 2. Campedelli-Canton (Skoda Fabia) at 23.7; 3. Albertini-Fappani (Skoda Fabia) at 26.2; 4. Basso-Granai (Toyota Yaris GR) at 29.0; 5. Mabellini-Lenzi (Skoda Fabia) at 31.0; 6. Dapra’-Guglielmetti (Skoda Fabia) at 41.1; 7. Avbelj-Andrejka (Skoda Fabia) at 43.0; 8. Nucita-Pollet (Hyundai I20N) at 55.7; 9. Re-Vozzo (Volkswagen Polo) at 1’00.5; 10. Scattolon-Magrini (Citroen C3) at 1’11.3
CIAR SPARCO OVERALL RANKING: 1. Crugnola-Ometto 101.5pt; 2. Campedelli-Canton 80; 3. Basso-Granai 65pt; 4. Signor-Michi 42pt; 5. Avbelj 38.5pt; 6. Scattolon-Zanni 30.5pt; 7. Mabellini-Lenzi 28.5pt; 8. Nucita-Pollet 22.5pt; 9. Re 13pt; 10. Daprà 12.5pt.
ABSOLUTE CIAR JUNIOR RANKING: 1. Doretto 81 pts; 2. Chickpeas 61.5pt; 3. Zanin 50.5pts; 4. Ricciu 39pt; 5. Boatti 30pt
CIAR TWO-WHEEL DRIVE OVERALL RANKING: 1. Cogni-Brachi 70.5 pt; 2. Pisani-Moriconi 67.5 pt; 3. Lucchesi 61 pt; 4. Vigliaturo 43 pt; 5. Strabello 39.5 pt.
CIR PROMOTION RANKING: 1. Signor 80pt (already Champion); 2. Avbelj 72.5pt; 3. Scattolon 67pt; 4. Daprà 42pt; 5. Sartor 39pt.
CIAR SPARCO CALENDAR 2024: March 15-16 | Rally il Ciocco and 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)
#CIAR #CrugnolaOmetto #win #Rally #Miglia #title
