Becoming champions and winning a trophy, both for the second time in a row, on the legendary asphalts of Sanremo. Matteo Giordano and Manuela Siragusa raised the 70th edition of the Ligurian Rally to the skies, an extraordinary, dreamed of and hard-fought success which, with an appointment to spare, gives them the victory of the Suzuki Rally Cup and the title in the Italian R1 Championship.
The Cuneo crew on Suzuki Swift Sport Hybrid, made available by Suzuki Tiesse Asti, achieved the sixth victory out of six seasonal events, winning for the second time in a row the coveted single-brand trophy organized by Suzuki Italia in collaboration with Emmetre Racing; but not only.
With the strong and solid Japanese car Giordano-Siragusa they have in fact mathematically closed, as reigning champions, the fight for the R1 Title, an Italian series in which Suzuki has triumphed 5 times. Even at the Rallye Sanremo Giordano had no rivals, except when at the end of the penultimate test of the 13 scheduled, a few meters from the stop, he went wide touching his Suzuki.
The solidity of the Swift and the experience allowed the champion to heroically reach the end of the race, despite suffering as the car was completely out of alignment following the impact, thus receiving the homage of the large public who gathered at the foot of the Casino, in the heart of Sanremo.
“It was a satisfaction, an immense joy to win the trophy and championship together in Sanremo, one of the rallies that made the history of our sport. Triumphing here is something we cared about a lot, it has a completely different flavour, especially when you win through suffering – comments Giordano at the finish – we had to sweat a lot at the end given the one we reached on SS12, and the first position was almost a miracle . I would like to thank my wife Manuela, always precise and impeccable throughout the season, and also Suzuki Tiesse Asti for the car that she made available to me. Overall we had a perfect package and this made the difference.”
In the most uncertain race of the season Roberto Pellè was close to nothing, just 2.7″, almost taking away the joy of success from Giordano, since taking advantage of his oversight and having always maintained a very fast pace the gap was narrow. At the end, the driver from Trentino made two moves on SS11 and 13, after having already won SS3, a clear leap that allowed him to come close to making an impossible comeback: the second step of the podium, with a performance like that and with such a small gap to the champion, it’s anything but to be satisfied.
Roberto Pellè, Luca Franceschini, Suzuki Swift Sport
Photo by: Suzuki
Still in the battle for the final victory, Alessandro Forneris concluded third, navigated by Luigi Cavagnetto, first in the under25 classification, also with a scratch won in the “Bignone 3” special. The young driver arrived in Sanremo coming close to silver by just 3.7“, after an attacking race which saw him jump to third place overall, first among the under25s.
The twist regarding the ranking reserved for young trophy holders, always very hot and always on the podium in all the 2023 events, was immediately in the opening stages of the race, when Sebastian Dallapiccola paired with Fabio Andrian touched on the television special , having to stop and leave the next day. On Saturday Dallapiccola didn’t give up and despite the delay he always pushed hard.
A great improvement was made by the Milivinti family crew, made up of the driver Massimiliano and the navigator Marco, who not only dominated among the Racing Starts, but also placed a brilliant fourth place.
With this third consecutive victory in the ranking reserved for the Boosterjet and Baleno cars, the crew is clearly approaching Lorenzo Olivieri, currently first paired with Lucrezia Viotti but who with fifth place in Liguria sees his lead becoming ever thinner. Filippo Gelsomino, navigated by Herve Navillod, with a Sport Hybrid, stopped just 9 tenths away from this challenge, continuing the streak of positive results.
Seventh, several minutes behind the winner, Marco Longo and Roberto Riva, on a Swift Sport 1600, were still able to keep their position on the attacking Davide Bertini. The driver led by Luca Vignolo on a Sport Hybrid is in fact, race after race, finding more and more feeling and competitiveness, so much so that he even won a race at the Sanremo, the PS7 “Semoigo 1”.
Unfortunately, three Suzuki Rally Cup crews had to raise the white flag before the arrival: two due to a collision, namely Alice Poggio paired with Andre Perrin and Jean Claude Vallino navigated by Sandro Sanesi, while the crew of Stefano and Maurizio Vitali he retired due to a gear linkage problem.
The last round of the Suzuki Rally Cup will finally be at the Monza Rally, in early December, where the cars of the Japanese manufacturer with Toyo Tires tires will be able to test themselves on the world’s dirt roads on a mixed dirt-asphalt route. The increased coefficient will make open duels even more exciting.
Alessandro Forneris, Luigi Cavagnetto, Suzuki Swift Sport
Photo by: Suzuki
The models in detail
– Suzuki Swift Sport Hybrid set up with the specifications of the National Hybrid Rally5 Technical Regulations, with epicyclic differential (Quaife), standard electronic control unit (ECU) and original six-speed gearbox.
– Suzuki Swift BoosterJet 1.0 Fiche n° 0042 set up with the specifications of the Rally5/R1 Class.
– Suzuki Swift Sport 1600 set up with the specifications of the Ra5N National Class.
– Suzuki BoosterJet 1.0 (Swift/Baleno) with Racing Start specifications.
All models are light and robust, very sensitive to setup and have characteristics that enhance the driving skills and sensitivity of the pilots and reward the most skilled crews from time to time. To further standardize the level of performance, all Suzuki Rally Cup cars will have to fit the same Toyo tires in asphalt races.
Roll of Honor Suzuki Rally Cup
2008 Roberto Sordi; 2009 Andrea Crugnola; 2010 Milko Pini; 2011 Claudio Gubertini; 2012 Damiano Defilippi; 2013 Paolo Amorisco; 2014 Alessandro Uliana; 2015 Marco Capello; 2016 Corrado Peloso; 2017 Simone Rivia, Under 25 Giorgio Cogni; 2018 Corrado Peloso; 2019 Simone Goldoni; 2020 Andrea Scalzotto; 2021 Simone Goldoni; 2022 Matteo Giordano
2023 Suzuki Rally Cup Calendar
9-11 March – 46th Ciocco Rally | 13-15 April – 69th Piedmont Rally | 4-6 May – 107th Targa Florio | 20-22 July 36th Rally Lana | 7-9 September – 46th MilleMiglia Rally | 28-30 September – 70th Sanremo Rally | 1-2 December – Monza Rally (Coeff. 1.5)
Overall SUZUKI RALLY CUP Drivers Ranking
1. Giordano 168pt; 2. Pellè 103pt; 3. Forneris 96pt; 4. Dallapiccola 89pt; 5. Olivieri 64pts; 6. Bertini 52pt pt; 7. Jasmine 47pt; 8. Milivinti 46pt; 9. Mantoet 30pt; 10. Santero 28pt.
RACING START 1.0 BoosterJet Ranking
1. Olivieri 77pts; 2. Milivinti 67pts; 3. Poggio 22pt; 4. Martinelli 21pt; 5. Mantoet 20pt; 6. White 17pt; 7.Vitals 21pt; 8. Vallino 8 pts.
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