The Rally of Alba has been a spectacular sporting event spanning two days and over 120 timed km on the tarmacs of Langhe, Monferrato and Roero. Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov, Skoda Fabia Rally 2, had the upper hand. The WRC2 crew showed its muscles and the great preparation that allowed them to be ahead of all the protagonists of the Italian series since the third stage and claimed 4 wins on 9 tests. This is the third foreign driver to put his name in the hall of fame of the Rally of Alba, which is at its sixteenth edition after the “cannibal” Sebastian Loeb and the Irish Craig Breen, which are two big names of the World Rally Championship. “I did not expect to be in the lead – Gryazin commented – especially to be in front of Crugnola, who is very fast. I am really happy, I had fun on these tests that were very fast and beautiful. It was fantastic”.

The Italians run their rally thinking about the championship as the foreign drivers were “transparent” for the classification. Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Elia Ometto, Citroen C3 Rally2, got again the full haul securing the second win of the season in CIAR and pulling away in the classification. The driver from Varese seemed to be on top of the situation despite the small gaps from the rivals in the championship and the many tricky parts of a very fast rally on stages that were similar to those of international events full of grip changes and a lot of variables to make things complicated. Crugnola always kept the slipstream of Gryazin and eventually closed second at 11.9s winning two tests in the most crucial stages. “We needed this win – Crugnola explained – as this rally was new to all of us, this put us back on track after two races in which we could not get the maximum. I think it is an important win and we dedicate it to all the group, including our sponsors, their contribution is fundamental and will be fundamental to support us until the end of the season”.

Fabio Andolfi and Manuel Fenoli, Skoda, did not give up until the end and ended third at 15.9s’. The crew did not manage to repeat the victory despite a great start with the victory of the Power Stage at the beginning of the rally. They repeated this performance in the opening and closing test of Saturday, which allowed them to claim the third podium in a row. Among the 184 cars, some were led by international crews. New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, Hyundai i20 Rally2, ended fourth at 23.9s’ at their comeback on the tarmac after a stop of four years. The French Stephane Lefebvre and Andy Malfoy, Citroen C3 Rally2, put in a crescendo of results and were impressed by the charm of the stages and the pace of the national drivers. Paolo Andreucci and Rudy Briani, Skoda, came to the fore in P6 despite being out of the CIAR classification. After two seasons in the Italian Gravel Trophy, the multiple champion accepted the challenge on the tarmac with MRF Tyres. He did not back off and posted interesting times. Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai had a few things to optimize in their Hyundai i20, but eventually got the points of the fourth place in the championship.

Damiano De Tommaso and Giorgia Ascalone did not get a great race. The Italian in the Skoda Fabia Rally 2 started off with a contact in the Power Stage that made him lose only 3.5s and some confidence. He never managed to get to grips with the rally despite some modifications at the service parks. Regardless, he secured the points of the fifth place that allow them to keep P2 of CIAR, with an 8-point lead on Andolfi, who managed to close a bit the gap. Giacomo Scattolon and Giovanni Bernacchini had an on-off rally. They were often close to the times of the best, but sometimes they were struggling. They managed to get through some moments in the second part of the rally, when in the second pass of the “Cossano” they went a bit wide on the gravel, but then rejoined the tarmac unharmed. The top ten was rounded off by the Spanish leader of the European Rally Championship Efren Llarena and Sara Fernandez. They struggled a bit also due to the occasional change of car: this time they were in fact in a Citroen C3 Rally2.

The Italian 2WD rally was very exciting and lived on the duel between Andrea Mabellini and Gianandrea Pisani. Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi had the upper hand and pulled away in the classification. Pisani and Fabrizio Vecoli were very fast in the Peugeot 208 GTI Rally4 but had an unlucky epilogue as they went off in the penultimate stage when they were only one second off the pace of the rival. The second place went therefore to Fabio Farina and Gabriele Zanni in another Peugeot 208. The third step of the podium went to Daniele Campanaro and Cosimo Ancillotti, Ford Fiesta Rally4. Home hero Stefano Santero went off after being the fastest in the power stage on Friday he suffered the failure of a wheel of his Peugeot 208 GTI in the middle of SS4.

In the second round of the GR Yaris Rally Cup by Toyota Italy the victory went to Thomas Paperini and Simone Fruini. Their main rivals were Angelo Pucci Grossi and Francesco Cardinali, that suffered a brake failure in the closing stage and therefore ended third behind the Finns Markus Manninen and Teemu Sillanpaa, that completed two great tests.

Matteo Giordano won the fourth act of the Suzuki Rally Cup. This was the third win of the season for the driver from Cuneo and co-driver Manuela Siragusa in the Hybrid version among the 14 Suzukis. The second place went to Giorgio Fichera and Ronny Celli, in the hybrid Swift R1. They secured the place when Igor Iani and Nicola Puliani went off after leading until the closing test. The leading trio of the Swift was completed by Gianandrea Gherardi and Mattea Modenini.

The third round of the 1st Zone Aci Sport Rally Cup has been very exciting thanks also to the coefficient 1.5 available to the 89 entered crews. The victory went to Alessandro Gino and Daniele Michi, Citroen C3 WRC Plus. They were transparent for the CRZ but won all the tests. The best of the Zone Cup was again Elwis Chentre with Fabio Grimaldi at the notes in the Skoda Fabia Rally2. They ended second at 57s from the WRC+, but led CRZ. The driver from Aosta pulled away at the top of the classification of 1st Zone. The third overall and second in CRZ went to Jacopo Araldoand Daniele Araspi. Their Skoda Fabia Rally 2 ended 40s off Chentre. The virtual podium of the zone cup went to Federico Santini, Skoda and Marco Barsotti that had over 1 minute from Chentre.

FINAL CLASSIFICATION RALLY DI ALBA: 1. Gryazin-Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) in 1:12'59.7; 2. Crugnola-Ometto (Citroen C3 R5) at 11.9; 3. Andolfi-Fenoli (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) at 15.9; 4. Paddon-Kennard (Hyundai i20 R5) at 23.9; 5. Lefebvre-Malfoy (Citroen C3 R5) at 37.0; 6. Andreucci-Briani (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) at 43.8; 7. Basso-Granai (Hyundai I20n R5) at 47.6; 8. De Tommaso-Ascalone (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) at 49.3; 9. Scattolon-Bernacchini (Skoda Fabia Evo R5) at 1'03.7; 10. Llarena Sainz Aja-Fernandez Palazuelos (Citroen C3 R5) at 1'30.2

SPARCO CIAR CLASSIFICATION: 1. Crugnola (Citroen C3 Rally2) 87,50pt; 2. De Tommaso (Skoda Fabia Rally2) 69pt; 3. Andolfi (Skoda) 61pt; 4. Albertini (Skoda) - Basso (Hyundai i20 NRally2) 38pt; 5. Scattolon (Skoda) 29pt; 6. Michelini (Volkswagen Polo GTI Rally2) 13,5pt; 7. Ciuffi (Skoda) 11,50pt; 8. Miele (Skoda) - Profeta (Skoda) 6pt; 9. Rusce (Hyundai) 4pt; 10. Lucchesi (Skoda) Jr 3pt.

CIR PROMOTION CLASSIFICATION: 1. De Tommaso 86pt; 2. Andolfi 81,50pt; 3. Scattolon 56pt; 4. Michelini 37pt; 5. Ciuffi 32pt; 6. Profeta 21pt; 7. Lucchesi Jr 20,50pt

SPARCO 2WD CLASSIFICATION: 1. Mabellini 61,50pt; 2. Farina 37pt; 3. Pisani 30pt; 4. Campanaro 27,50pt; 5. Tiramani 25pt; 6. Santero 23pt; 7. Cazzaro 20pt ; 8. Fiore 18 pt; 9. Maurino 15,50pt; 10. Giovanella 8pt

CIAR CONSTRUCTORS CLASSIFICATION: 1. Skoda 107,50pt; 2. Citroen 63pt; 3. Hyundai 37pt;

 

 

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