Paolo Andreucci and Anna Andreussi, Peugeot 208 T16 R5, win the 41st Rally Il Ciocco and Valle del Serchio

The opener in Ciocco handed the lead of the classification to Peugeot Italia's driver, who led the Ford Fiestas R5 driven by Andrea Crugnola, who was the first in CIRA, and of Simone Campedelli. Victory to Tommaso Ciuffi, Peugeot 208 R2, in CIR Junior.
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Il Ciocco, Saturday, March 24th 2018 – Paolo Andreucci, Anna Andreussi and Peugeot triumphed at the 41st Rally del Ciocco, race organized by Organization Sport Event. The reigning champions and the car of the house of the prancing lion got the lead of the rally in the third test and kept it all the way to the flag winning the Rally del Ciocco for the eighth time. The second absolute place went to Andrea Crugnola and Danilo Fappani on Fiesta R5 run by Ford Racing. Crugnola secured third prestigious result keeping a high rhythm that allowed him to post the quickest time in four stages. Behind the top two, the best were Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton on Ford Fiesta R5 run by Orange1 Racing and Vieffecorse. The winner of the past edition of the Rally del Ciocco has put in a strong rally this time around too, but two punctures did not allow him to keep the pace of the drivers ahead of him and closed third absolute. The fourth place went to the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta on Ford Fiesta R5, who got past the driver from Lucca Rudy Michelini on his Skoda Fabia R5 run by P.A. Racing, who closed his rally in fifth absolute place.

 


Crugnola and Michelini were the first two in the CIRA classification, the tarmac championship reserved to drivers that had never won races of the Italian championship. This series improved the entry list with 12 cars in category R5, which challenged each other in this opening round. The third driver in CIRA was Antonio Rusce, with Sauro Farnocchia at the notes on another Fiesta R5.


Umberto Scandola and his Skoda Fabia R5, at the debut on Dmack tyres, did not have much luck. The driver from Verona and Guido D’Amore, who run the rally essentially to improve the balance between the Skoda challenger and the new tyres, could not end the race due to an incident half-way through which forced him to an early retirement. Marco Pollara and Giuseppe Princiotto, one of the three crews present at Ciocco for Aci Team Italia in 2018 CIR, had a similar fate. The two Sicilians had to retire in the fifth stage due to a stone that got into the radiator of the Peugeot 208 T16 after going wide in a hairpin. Among the underdogs at Ciocco, to be mentioned are Andrea Nucita and Marco Vozzo on Hyundai I20 R5 run by team Bernini. Nucita has shown again good speed, but a puncture and an excursion in the second half of the race forced him to the retirement.

 
Very good performances were also put in by some foreign drivers. Particularly, the aforementioned Japanese Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai, both on Ford Fiesta R5 of team Tommi Makinen Racing, that have always been among the front-runners and the Russian Nicolay Gryazin on Skoda Fabia R5. Among the other drivers in the Italian Rally, Luca Panzani ended within the top ten, in eighth absolute place on Ford Fiesta R5, while the Italian Federico Santini was tenth on Skoda Fabia R5. In the other Italian Championships, the victory in the 2WD Italian Championship went to Ivan Ferrarotti on Renault Clio R3T, who also won the Renault Trophy reserved to the Clios. In the Italian Rally Junior, a great result was obtained by Tuscany’s Tommaso Ciuffi and Nicolò Gonella on Peugeot 208 R2 wearing Pirelli tyres. The ACI Team Italia crew managed to fend off, even with some difficulties, the 208 R2 driven by Andrea Mazzocchi. The third place in the Junior went to the other Aci Team Italia’s crew Damiano De Tommaso and Michele Ferrara. In the opener of CIR, the Twingo R1 Top Trophy was won by Gianandrea Pisani, who led Alberto Paris. The opening round of the Suzuki Rally Trophy was won by Simone Rivia, who led Stefano Martinelli on Swift 1000 T.

 

Absolute classification Rally del Ciocco: 1.Andreucci-Andreussi (Peugeot 208 T16 R5) in 1:46'02.0; 2.Crugnola-Fappani (Ford Fiesta R5) at 20.8; 3. Campedelli-Canton (Ford Fiesta R5) at 29.7; 4. Katsuta - Salminen (Ford Fiesta R5) at 1'37.8; 5.Michelini-Perna (Skoda Fabia R5) at 1'40.0; 6.Arai-Macneall (Ford Fiesta R5) at 1’44.6; 7.Rusce-Farnocchia (Ford Fiesta Evo II R5) at 2'50.1; 8.Panzani-Pinelli (Ford Fiesta R5) at 4’29.9; 9.Gryazin- Fedorov (Skoda Fabia R5) at 4’51.6; 10.Santini-Romei (Skoda Fabia R5) at 6’26.9.

 
Absolute CIR: 1.Andreucci 15 points; 2.Crugnola 12; 3.Campedelli 10;3. 4.Michelini 6; 5.Rusce 4.
CIR tarmac: 1.Crugnola 15; 2.Michelini 12; 3.Rusce 10; 4.Panzani 8; 5.Santini 6.
CIR Constructors: Ford 20; Peugeot 15; Skoda 7.
CIR 2WD: 1.Ferrarotti 15; 2. De Tommaso 12; 3.Canzian 10; 4.Nerobutto 8.
CIR Junior: 1. Ciuffi 15; 2.Mazzocchi 12; 3.De Tommaso 10; 4. Trevisani 8.