A success to dispel even the last doubts and regain a leadership that has now belonged to him for three seasons. With the determination that made them unique, Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Ometto also won the 42nd Rally Due Valli and returned to the lead of the Italian Absolute Rally Sparco Championship. It was yet another show of strength by the reigning champion couple on the Citroen C3 Rally2 of FPF Sport, with Pirelli tyres, which in this fourth round achieved its third victory in the championship with 6 scratches in 7 special stages, along the 106 kilometers of asphalt drawn on the Veronese hills.
For the driver from Varese and the navigator from Vicenza, this is the third signature in the roll of honor of the race organized by AC Verona and ACI Verona Sport, which allows him to give a significant boost to the Italian championship ranking also thanks to his exit from the scene on final of the main opponents of this year. In fact, Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai on the GR Yaris Rally2 retired with one race to go after a collision in a chicane. The clash between the main powers of CIAR Sparco actually remained in the balance only on the initial day, when the first three special stages saw Crugnola-Ometto gain momentum with two scratches and Basso-Granai respond in the evening to close up to 2.8′ ‘. Then came Crugnola’s solo in the first passage on the two long tests on Saturday, the “Moruri” and the “Bolca”, useful for digging a furrow impossible for all the opponents to fill. Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton therefore tried to capitalize as much as possible on the trip to Verona, taking advantage of Basso-Granai’s retirement to take second place in the final with a gap of 46.2”. The crew on Stepfive’s Skoda Fabia RS had started with great motivation right from the prologue, with the best time in qualifying, but their ambition was immediately reduced by a spin on SS2 which made them slip back to over 18” from the vertex. Then the rider from Cesena recovered to third place, improving with second position at the end after Basso’s exit. A placing that allows Campedelli and Canton to also gain second place in the CIAR Sparco, now with 10.5 points from Crugnola-Ometto.
A success to dispel even the last doubts and regain a leadership that has now belonged to him for three seasons. With the determination that made them unique, Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Ometto also won the 42nd Rally Due Valli and returned to the lead of the Italian Absolute Rally Sparco Championship. It was yet another show of strength by the reigning champion couple on the Citroen C3 Rally2 of FPF Sport, with Pirelli tyres, which in this fourth round achieved its third victory in the championship with 6 scratches in 7 special stages, along the 106 kilometers of asphalt drawn on the Veronese hills.
For the driver from Varese and the navigator from Vicenza, this is the third signature in the roll of honor of the race organized by AC Verona and ACI Verona Sport, which allows him to give a significant boost to the Italian championship ranking also thanks to his exit from the scene on final of the main opponents of this year. In fact, Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai on the GR Yaris Rally2 retired with one race to go after a collision in a chicane. The clash between the main powers of CIAR Sparco actually remained in the balance only on the initial day, when the first three special stages saw Crugnola-Ometto gain momentum with two scratches and Basso-Granai respond in the evening to close up to 2.8′ ‘. Then came Crugnola’s solo in the first passage on the two long tests on Saturday, the “Moruri” and the “Bolca”, useful for digging a furrow impossible for all the opponents to fill. Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton therefore tried to capitalize as much as possible on the trip to Verona, taking advantage of Basso-Granai’s retirement to take second place in the final with a gap of 46.2”. The crew on Stepfive’s Skoda Fabia RS had started with great motivation right from the prologue, with the best time in qualifying, but their ambition was immediately reduced by a spin on SS2 which made them slip back to over 18” from the vertex. Then the rider from Cesena recovered to third place, improving with second position at the end after Basso’s exit. A placing that allows Campedelli and Canton to also gain second place in the CIAR Sparco, now with 10.5 points from Crugnola-Ometto.
Gianandrea Pisani instead took the lead in the Italian Absolute Two-Wheel Drive Rally Championship, managing to win the Scaliger round with Massimo Moriconi on a Peugeot 208. The reigning champion from Lucca once again pulled ahead of all the other protagonists, despite a good battle in qualifying with Giorgio Cogni and Simone Brachi. In fact, the latter completed 4 special stages, maintaining the winner’s pace for the entire race, but having spun on PS3 and lost around 20″ they were unable to compete for the victory at the end, despite the scratches that arrived right in the final stages. The touch on the final stage by Lucchesi Jr, who had been fighting for second place until then, thus opened up the possibility for Denis Vigliaturo paired with Ermanno Corradini to snatch the 3rd step of the Italian podium.
In the single-brand trophies that animate the Italian series, Giorgio Fichera and Enzo Colombaro obtained the first seal of 2024 in the Suzuki Rally Cup, ahead of Pellè-Franceschini in second at 18.2″. In the GR Yaris Rally Cup, victory came for Simone Di Giovanni and Andrea Colapietro.
OVERALL RANKING 42nd RALLY DUE VALLI: 1. Crugnola-Ometto (Citroen C3) in 1:08’43.9; 2. Campedelli-Canton (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 46.2; 3. Signor-Michi (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 56.2; 4. Avbelj-De Guio (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 59.4; 5. Nucita-Pollet (Hyundai I20n) at 1’09.6; 6. Mabellini-Lenzi (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 1’12.9; 7. Sartor-Mattucci (Skoda Fabia Evo) at 1’58.6; 8. Rusce-Farnocchia (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 2’08.4; 9. Bottoni-Peruzzi (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 2’23.4; 10. Aragno-Guzzi (Skoda Fabia Evo) at 2’35.6;
CIAR SPARCO OVERALL RANKING: 1. Crugnola-Ometto 60.5pt; 2. Campedelli-Canton 50pt; 3. Basso-Granai 45pt; 4. Signor-Michi 36pt; 5. Scattolon-Zanni 24pt; 6. Nucita-Pollet 19.5pt; 7. Avbelj 18.5pt; 8. Mabellini-Lenzi 12; 9. Andreucci 11.5pt; 10. Re 11pt.
CIAR TWO WHEEL DRIVE RANKING: 1. Pisani 67.5pt; 2. Lucchesi 43pt; 3. Cogni 36pt; 4. Vigliaturo 28pt; 5. Bell Ringer 25pt.
CIR PROMOTION RANKING: 1. Signor 65pt; 2. Scattolon 46pt; 3. Avbelj 36.5pt; 4. Re 26 pt; 5. Sartor 24pt.
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