This weekend the fifteenth edition of the Suzuki Rally Cup will face its penultimate round of the season on the asphalt of the 40th Rally Due Valli.
The Verona race will be the scene of the final act of the CIAR Sparco, also valid for the Italian Rally Asfalto Championship (CIRA), the 3rd Zone Rally Cup and the 2nd Zone Trophy reserved for historic cars.
Although the 2022 edition of the Suzuki trophy is already in the hands of Matteo Giordano and Manuela Siragusa, the couple from Cuneo, on the Suzuki Swift Sport Hybrid of the Alma Racing Scuderia will not miss the last two rounds scheduled, the “Due Valli” and on the land of “Rally delle Marche” in November. Meanwhile, the Italian R1 champions will open the dances among the sixteen Suzuki Swift R1s competing in Verona for the Japanese brand’s single-brand store.
The duels between the various pretenders to the silver square are expected. First of all the Catania-based Giorgio Fichera (100pt) in his fourth time in Verona, after an excellent test in Brescia he will want to consolidate the second place, sailed by Ronny Celli on the Swift Hybrid of Meteco Corse. Third in the standings among hybrid cars also ready Under Igor Iani (85pt) sailed as always by Nicola Puliani.
However, the young man from Ossola will have to beware of the very close Roberto Pellè (84pt) behind by only one point. The rider of the Destra 4 Srl together with Giulia Luraschi will return to the tests where he obtained the victory in the RST10 class in the 2020 edition. In the Hybrid parterre also the young Pisan Gianandrea Gherardi (57pt) this time with Franco Nannetti always with the colors of the Jolly Racing Team and immediately out of the top five of the single-brand store. The other “junior” Alessandro Forneris will also be back with Luigi Cavagnetto, another Meteco Corse standard bearer also on Hybrid.
Full-bodied and all to follow the fight for the Racing Start category. In fact, the current leader Stefano Martinelli will return as planned, with 77 points from him and from him, a fifth overall in the drivers’ classification which makes him a protagonist in the race also in Verona. The driver from Barga together with Fabio Menchini will certainly want to close the accounts against his rivals Danilo Costantino with Alessandro Parodi behind by 7 points and Cristian Mantoet with Roberto Simioni, in his third participation in the home trials, and currently at 63 points.
But he also pays attention in the RS group to young Massimiliano and Marco Milivinti, recent winners of the category at the Rally 1000 Miglia. Start on Boosterjet also for Lorenzo Olivieri with Nicolò Barla and for Luca Villardi flanked by Francesco Berdin. Suzuki debut for 19-year-old Stefano Vitali who will share the cockpit with his father Maurizio on the Swift 1.0 Boosterjet, at his third ever rally, will be a name to follow for the 2023 edition of the Suzuki Rally Cup.
First time and desire to do well this weekend for the Piedmontese Marcello Sterpone sailed by the expert Giancarla Guzzi on the Swift branded AsdAlma Racing. There will also be the Swift Sport 1600s of Marco Longo with Roberto Rivia and of the Sicilian Sergio Denaro sailed by Sonia Dal Dosso.
Two Valleys Rally Program
The Scaligera race, on a technical and selective track in all its 93 km of race, will start the engines on Friday morning 7 October for the shakedown in Grezzana and will start “symbolically” in Piazza Brà in Verona from 2.00 pm. The competitors of the main race and therefore also those registered for the Suzuki Rally Cup will compete in three races in the “Mezzane di Sotto” broadcast live on ACI Sport TV and RAI Sport.
Starting at 3.00 pm and we will continue with two passages – the second at night – on the “San Francesco” [PS2 ore 18.31; PS3 ore 21.57]. Saturday 8 October then another eight timed challenges, four tests to be repeated “Moruri” [PS4 ore 09.48; PS8 ore 16.23]”Marcemigo” [PS5 ore 10.32; PS9 ore 17.07]”Vestenavecchia” [PS3 ore 11.43; PS10 ore 18.18] and the “Cà del Diaolo” [PS7 ore 12.16; PS11 ore 18.51]before the final celebrations again in Piazza Brà from 20.30.
These are 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 R1 Group.
– Suzuki Swift Sport 1600 fitted with the specifications of the national R5 Group.
– Suzuki BoosterJet 1.0 (Swift / Baleno) with Racing Start specifications.
All models are light and robust, very sensitive to tuning and have characteristics that enhance the driving skills and sensitivity of the pilots and reward the most skilled crews from time to time. To even more uniform the level of performance, all the cars of the Suzuki Rally Cup will have to mount the same Toyo tires in the asphalt races.
Suzuki Rally Cup 2022 classification after round 6
Giordano 161pt; Fichera 99pt; Iani 85pt; Pellè 84pt; Martinelli 58pt; Gherardi 57pt; Constantine 54pt; Mantoet 47pt; Milivinti 42pt; Sterpone 39pt; Olivieri 31pt; Long 23pt; Forneris 21pt
Racing Start Boosterjet 1.0 classification after round 6
Martinelli 77pt; Constantine 70pt; Mantoet 62pt; Milivinti 49pt; Olivieri 33pt; Windy 8pt.
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