The Italian Rally 2015 Championship is on the go

The 38th Rally del Ciocco and Valle del Serchio to open the title hunt in the Absolute Italian Championship, Junior and Produzione. A lot of interest and entrants in the new category R1.

Image
Il Ciocco, 19 March 2015 - 92 lineups at the start and among these, 9 entered in the Absolute Italian Championship, 11 to the Junior, 4 to the Production and 14 to the R1, the entry level category of Italian rally. These are the figures of the 38th Rally of Ciocco and Valle del Serchio, race organized by Organization Sport Events. Such numbers are quite important especially considering the amount of young drivers entered that give a measure of the health of the Italian rally world. The three racing days will start tomorrow with opening ceremony at 19.00 (local time) in Forte dei Marmi as Saturday and Sunday will be devoted to the race that will be made of 14 stages all on tarmac for a total 158,660 km, placed within a global itinerary of 614,500 km having its epicenter in the Garfagnana valley in the province of Lucca. The finish line that will give the first verdicts of the season is set in Castelnuovo Garfagnana at 12.30 next to porta Ariostesca on Sunday 22 March.

As regarding the absolute classification, among the top drivers the eighth time Italian champion from Castelnuovo Garfagnana Paolo Andreucci, and co-driver from Friuli Anna Andreussi on Peugeot 208 T16 R5, Giandomenico Basso, and co-driver Mitia Dotta both from Veneto on a Ford Fiesta R5 powered by gpl, and the Veronase Umberto Scandola, who will have Guido D'Amore at the notes in the Skoda Fabia Super 2000. An eye will anyway have to be kept on the underdogs of the likes of Alessandro Perico from Bergamo on Peugeot 208 T16 R5, and Stefano Albertini from Brescia also on Peugeot 208 T16 R5. Other strong outsiders are Nicola Caldani and Gabriele Ciavarella, Ford Fiesta R5, as well as Rudy Michelini, Citroen DS3 R5. All to be checked is the potential of Stefano Baccega, Ford Fiesta R5, and of Andrea Marcucci on Peugeot 207 Super 2000, who will be at the start of a race that he has been followed and organized in the past few years.

The battle among the youngsters of the Junior will be at the heart of all attentions in a championship that is quite in good health before its actual start. Following the recent initiatives by ACI SPORT, particularly with the creation of the ACI TEAM ITALIA, that is the rally national team, a lot of very young drivers decided to compete in the Italian series. The top drivers in summary: Michele Tassone on the works Peugeot 208 R2 from Piedmont, Luca Panzani, third in the standings last year and Gianandrea Pisani, both from Lucca and at the debut on Renault Twingo R2, the driver from Molise Giuseppe Testa (Peugeot 208 R2), Niccolò Marchioro (Peugeot 208 R2) from Veneto, and Damiano De Tommaso (Peugeot 208 R2) from Lombardia, Alberto Rossi (Peugeot 208 R2) from Liguria and then again the brothers Gheno, Giorgio Bernardi and Jacopo Trevisani.

The former Italian and European champion Luca Rossetti will be at the comeback in the Italian Production Championship. The driver from Friuli on Renault Clio R3T will have to face the attacks moved by Ivan Ferrarotti (Renault Clio R3T), Fabrizio Andolfi Jr. (Renault Clio R3T) and from Giacomo Scattolon (Renault Clio R3C). The picture of this sporting event will be completed by the single branded trophies Renault, Clio and Twingo, and that of the Suzuki Rally Trophy that will see 13 out of the 14 drivers of the prestigious R1 Trophy challenging each other.

The Italian Rally Championship season will enjoy an important media coverage also in this season. This will comprise Rai Sport 2 deferred broadcasts available on freeview and on SKY. The two days of the Rally Il Ciocco and Valle del Serchio will be shown on Saturday 21 March evening from 22,40 to 23,10 and on Sunday 22 at the same time.
LIVE STREAMING by ACI Sport will also cover the event. Five specials will cover the Rally Il Ciocco and Valle del Serchio from the end of the sages, all available at acisportitalia.it.

The schedule for the Rally del Ciocco follows (local time):


Saturday 21 March 2015:

1°) "Renaio 2", end of the stage, stop check, from 10.45 to 11.30.
2°) "Noi TV 1", end of the stage, stop check, from 15.40 to 16.30.
3°) "Noi TV 2",end of the stage, stop check, from 18.25 to 19.10.

Sunday 22 March 2015:

4°) "Coreglia 1", end of the stage, stop check, from 8.25 to 9.15.
5°) "Coreglia 2", end of the stage, stop check, from 10.35 to 11.30.
In the picture: start of the Rally Il Ciocco and Valle del Serchio 2014