The most important appointment of the rallying Italian season is approaching fast with the 40th Rally Due Valli, which is going to be the final challenge for the Sparco Italian Rally Championship and the penultimate for the Italian Asphalt Trophy. An unmissable spectacle will get underway in Verona’s neighbourhoods on Friday and Saturday: this is going to be a decisive round of the highest grades of Italian Rally as well as the 3rd Zona ACI Sport Rally Cup. The event will also be valid for the Zone Rally Trophy of Historic cars. The event organized by AC Verona and ACI Verona Sport will celebrate its 50th anniversary from the first edition held in 1972. The occasion will be celebrated by a big lot of 187 cars operated by the best drivers and co-drivers of Italy that will go through 11 tests for a total of 121,12 competitive km and a total liaison of 424,65 km.

THE PROGRAM | The event will start from Verona’s heart, Piazza Brà, on Friday at 14:06. The prize ceremony will also take place in the same venue on Saturday from 20:30. The sporting event will be in the middle of these two appointments and it will be prepared by the shakedown on Friday morning at 8:00 in Grezzana (Busoni) before SS1 “Mezzane di Sotto” at 15:00. The opening Power Stage is going to be an unmissable show that will be available live on RAI Sport (ch.57 FV) and ACI Sport TV (ch. 228 Sky, acisport.it, Facebook @ACISportTV @CIRally @CIRAsfalto), which will be breathtaking as it could award the title straight away. After this test, two passes will be on the “San Francesco” (12,80 km) on Friday evening at 18:31 and overnight at 21:57.

The remaining of the rally will be on Saturday with two loops of four different tests: “Moruri” (14,15 km – SS4 at 9:48, SS8 at 16:23), “Marcemigo” (11,19 km – SS5 at 10:32, SS9 at 17:07), the longest “Vestenavecchia” (14,46 km – SS6 at 11:43, SS10 at 18:18) and the short and closing “Cà del Diaolo” (6,89 km – SS7 at 12:16, SS11 at 18:51). Service park will be at the Stadium Bentegodi and the headquarters will be again at the Payanini Center, with race direction and press office.

CRUGNOLA VS DE TOMMASO, THE CLOSING ACT | The roads of the Due Valli are ready to host the final challenge between Andrea Crugnola and Damiano De Tommaso to define the winner of the Sparco CIAR. Among the two ACI Team Italia’s drivers, the favourite is the first, leading the classification with co-driver Pietro Elia Ometto in the Citroen C3 Rally2. Crugnola could clinch the title of Italian Champion for the second time in a row coming first or second in the Power Stage or ending the rally in fourth or better. De Tommaso, who is already the Promotion Italian Champion, will be in the Skoda Fabia Rally2 with Massimo Bizzocchi. They will not have any other option than to win everything, from the Power Stage to the overall Rally and hope that their rivals will not go as fast.

THE PROTAGONISTS | Several other crews on top will not just watch the duel for the title but will try and end their campaign on a high. Among these, Stefano Albertini and Danilo Fappani, came second on their home turf at the Rally 1000 Miglia in their Skoda. Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai, Hyundai i20 Rally2, were on the podium too on that occasion and won the latest edition of the Due Valli. They will hunt for a repeat chasing their first win of the season. The round in Verona last year was good also for Tommaso Ciuffi and Nicolò Gonella, that secured their career-best result taking their first podium. This is what they will aim to repeat in their Skoda. Christopher Lucchesi and Titti Ghilardi celebrated the CIRA 2WD title twelve months ago in Piazza Brà. The young driver from Lucca will try and confirm his growth on the four-wheel-drive Skoda. The entry list also included Rudy Michelini and Michele Perna, Volkswagen Polo Rally2, but the driver from Tuscany had to give up following the unlucky exit at the recent Rally Città di Pistoia. The Women crew Patrizia Perosino and Veronica Verzoletto, Skoda, will also be present.

THE PENULTIMATE ROUND ON ASPHALT | The Due Valli will not decide the Italian Asphalt Trophy but is a crucial round to score essential points as the final scoring will be computed on the 5 best results in 6 participations out of the 7 rounds. This trophy will end with the Trofeo ACI Como, which will decide the title at the end of October with a rally having a coefficient 1.5. The title hunt is open. CIAR and CIRA crews will compete in one single rally, but two separate classifications will be drawn.

It is easy to foresee the presence of asphalt drivers on top, like Simone Campedelli, Skoda Fabia Rally 2, who will hunt for the third win of the season, placing him on the overall top. The driver from Cesena is currently third and will be sided for the first time in the championship by Tania Canton, who is already his partner in the European Rally and will try to get the most of the absence of the two drivers ahead: Marco Signor and Corrado Fontana, that will wait to spend their sixth presence in Como. Corrado Pinzano will try to stay in the fight with co-driver Marco Zegna after a round of rest. The latest presence of the two in the Volkswagen Polo was at the home round of the Rally Lana, which ended with the first win in the Italian championship in their career. Giuseppe Testa and Emanuele Inglesi, Skoda, have a chance to slide in the title fight after the podium obtained in San Martino di Castrozza. The driver from Molise will be back at the Due Valli six years after his last presence, back in 2016, when he won the CIR Junior. Andrea Carella and Manuel Fenoli, Fabia Rally2, come from an unlucky exit in Trentino and will try and cancel quickly that off that prevented them to fight for the title. Francesco Aragno and Andrea Segir’s performance has been surprising at the Valle del Primiero, where they ended at the feet of the podium due to some episodes. The driver from Savona will try and confirm the level reached in this 4WD category in the Skoda. The Asphalt lineup will be completed by Stefano Liburdi and Mattia Cipriani, Hyundai i20 Rally2.

AN EXCELLENT GUEST | Nikolay Gryazin will be back to compete in Italy in between the rounds of the World Championship. The WRC2 drivers will be again in the championship in the Skoda together with Konstantin Aleksandrov. They will be transparent for the classifications, but he will try and take the fifth win on the Italian turf.

FOUR JUNIORS FOR ONE TITLE |The challenge for the Italian Rally Junior Championship will probably be decided at the closing hairpin. This will be the sixth round of the season for the Under28 and the fourth on the asphalt. This round will name the winner of the title and will have a coefficient of 1.5. The ACI Team Italia’s boys will get to the Due Valli in great shape, thanks also to the third training session with the ACI Sport’s Federal School that allowed them to learn theoretical and practical aspects in the Renault Clio Rally4 fitting Pirelli tyres and managed by Motorsport Italia.

The top four Juniors are within 16 points and could aim for the title. The first are Alessandro Casella and Rosario Siragusano, that will hunt for the third win on the asphalt that could make them Champions. Davide Nicelli and Tiziano Pieri are second and the only crew that already discarded one result and could count on 79 points in the bag, two wins and two second places. The driver from Pavia is also the only one that could settle for P2 to get the title. All the others will need to win, like Mattia Zanin, who will try to repeat the victory scored at the Rally 1000 Miglia, his first in the Junior, with Fabio Pizzol. Edoardo De Antoni and Martina Musiari are still chasing their first win of the season. Constancy is their best weapon though and allowed them to start from P4 with 65 points to play all the cards, but their chances will depend on the results obtained by their rivals. Matteo Ceriali, for the first time with Vanessa Lai will be back after skipping one round. The season’s closer will also have some young drivers at the start like Fabio Solitro with Rosario Navarra and Sara Carra with Lorenzo Mezzina.

THE CLOSING EXIT OF 2WD | The CIAR 2WD crews will be at their final round. The title has already been won by Andrea Mabellini, who will be present with Virginia Lenzi in the Renault Clio Rally4. The other youngsters like Fabio Farina with Gabriele Zanni will try to challenge the Champions with P2 already in the bag. Christian Tiramani with Luca Guglielmetti and Nicola Cazzaro with Giovanni Brunaporto will do the same while fighting for P3. These will all be in a Peugeot 208 Rally4 as the experienced Emanuele Fiore and Andrea Casalini.

THE SUZUKI’S CUP HEADING TO THE FINALE | The penultimate round of the Suzuki Rally Cup will have the usual big presence. The Japanese trophy is heading to its closing act and this is going to be the last appointment on the tarmac before the closer on gravel. A total of 16 Swifts will be present. The group of hybrids is led by Matteo Giordano, who won the title and now is hunting for the sixth win. He will be chased by the experts Roberto Pellé and Giorgio Fichera and by the winner of the Under25 category Igor Iani, who is one of the main contenders of the season. The winner of the Racing Start is still to be decided and Stefano Martinelli will have to fend off the attacks of Cristian Mantoet and Danilo Costantino.

CRZ AT THE FLAG | The weekend of Verona will also decide the winner of the 3rd Zone ACI Sport Rally Cup. The challenge dedicated to the best drivers of the area located between Trentino and part of Veneto reached its sixth and closing round with coefficient 1.5. This round will decide the winners of the Zone Cup and the qualified for the National Final of ACI Sport Rally Cup that will take place at the first weekend of November at the Rally of Lazio. Federico Bottoni and Sofia Peruzzi, Skoda are the leaders and will have to fight again against drivers like Efrem Bianco and Dino Lamonato, Giovanni Costenaro and Matteo Gambasin, Ilario Bondioni and Sofia D’Ambrosio, the latter that won the past edition of the Due Valli for CRZ in their Fabia Rally2. Riccardo Pederzani and Roberto Mometti will try and qualify for the Finals. The pairing decided to compete in the Zone rally in a Skoda to aim for the Under25 classification.

 

SPARCO ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2022: March 4-5 | 45th Rally Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio; April 8-9| 69th Rallye Sanremo; May 6-7 | 106th Targa Florio (coeff. 1,5); June 24-25 | 16th Rally di Alba; July 22-24 | Rally di Roma Capitale; August 26-27 | 45th Rally 1000 Miglia; October 7-8 | 40th Rally Due Valli Coeff. 1,5

CIAR SPARCO CLASSIFICATION: 1. Crugnola 124,5pt; 2. De Tommaso 99pt; 3. Andolfi 69pt; 4. Albertini 55pt; 5. Basso 50pt; 6. Scattolon 31pt; 7. Ciuffi 21,5pt; 8. Michelini 14,5pt; 9. Rusce 12pt; 10. Miele, Sulpizio, Profeta 6pt;

CIAR JUNIOR: 1. Casella 81pt; 2. Nicelli 79pt; 3. Zanin 72pt; 4. De Antoni 65pt; 5. De Nuzzo 32pt; 6. Ceriali 28pt; 7. Carra, Solitro 19pt

CIR ASPHALT: 1. Signor 58pt (in 5 results); 2. Fontana 51,5pt (in 5 results); 3. Campedelli 49,5pt (in 4 results); 4. Pinzano 38pt (in 4 results); 5. Testa 36pt (in 4 results); 6. Carella 23,5pt; 7. Aragno 11pt

CIRA CHAMPIONSHIP 2022: April 22 - 23 | Rallye Elba; May 27 - 28 | Rally del Salento (coeff. 1,5); June 17 - 18 | Rally della Marca Trevigiana; July 29 - 30 | Rally della Lana; September 9 - 10 | Rallye San Martino di Castrozza; October 7-8 | 40th Rally Due Valli; October 20 - 23 | Rally ACI Como (coeff. 1,5)

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Daniele De Bonis +39 339 7573991 debonis@acisportspa.it