Verona, Wednesday, June 26th, 2024 – The Sparco Italian Rally Championship returns to Verona for the fourth round of the season. On Friday, June 28th, and Saturday, June 29th, the Rally Due Valli will welcome back the top tier of the Italian series after a year, gathering the best competitors in the sport with a total of 117 registered teams. Besides the races for the Absolute, Promotion, and Two-Wheel Drive titles included in the CIAR Sparco, there will also be space for local drivers competing in the third round of the ACI Sport Zone 4 Rally Cup. Completing the rally lineup are the main national brand trophies, the GR Yaris Rally Cup in its second round and the Suzuki Rally Cup in its fourth round. This is the 42nd edition of the Verona event, taking place in summer for the first time, organized by the Automobile Club Verona with ACI Verona Sport, who have prepared an intense program and a challenging route on the asphalt roads through the beautiful Verona hills.

THE PROGRAM | From Piazza Bra to Piazza Bra, the Rally Due Valli will start and end in the heart of Verona. The schedule includes a total distance of 263.12 km, with 7 special stages covering 106.47 km of timed sections. On Friday morning, the classic prologue begins with free practice from 7:30, followed by Qualifying from 10:00 on the "Postuman" section. In the early afternoon, starting at 15:00, the competitors will leave the Service Park at Veronafiere to head to Piazza Bra before tackling three special stages on the first day: two runs on "San Mauro di Saline" (12.94 km - SS1 at 16:04, SS3 at 20:30) interspersed with the "Postuman" stage (2.01 km - SS2 at 16:54) which will serve as a Power Stage, awarding 2, 1.5, and 1 points to the top three finishers. On Saturday, the final verdicts will be delivered with two passes on "Moruri" (14.03 km - SS4 at 9:19, SS6 at 14:06) and the long "Bolca" (25.26 km - SS5 at 10:14, SS7 at 15:01) before the final arrival at 17:25, again in Piazza Bra.

ACI Sport TV will broadcast the main moments of the Rally Due Valli live on channels 228 of Sky and 52 of FreeView, as well as through streaming on the acisport.it website and the official Facebook pages @acisporttv and @cirally.

DUE VALLI CROSSROADS OF THE TRICOLORE | Due to its new central placement in the calendar, this year's Due Valli rally could serve as a pivotal event to determine who will truly contend for the title in the final three races. Going into the event, Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai, driving for Toyota with a Pirelli-shod GR Yaris Rally2 managed by T-Racing, sit atop the standings with one win and two second places. The Treviso driver will chase his second championship victory after his win in Piedmont, having already won this race in 2019 and 2021, the latter of which secured him the title. A renewed duel with reigning champions Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Ometto, who are just 1.5 points behind Basso-Granai, is expected. Crugnola, representing FPF Sport, holds the record for the most special stage wins at Due Valli (24) and clinched the 2022 title on the Citroen C3 Rally2 with a Power Stage win, currently known as “Postuman.” Crugnola-Ometto also come to Verona following an excellent victory at the Targa Florio, their second win after the season opener at Ciocco.

Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton, the third-placed team in the championship just 7 points from the lead, enter this fourth round with a positive streak of three consecutive podiums. Driving the Pirelli-equipped Skoda Fabia RS of Stepfive, the Cesena driver will be aiming for his first Verona victory, narrowly missed last year in the asphalt championship race. Meanwhile, Paolo Andreucci, with fond memories of Due Valli and two wins under his belt, will be a top contender along with Rudy Briani on the Turbocar Sport Citroen C3. Joining them in the MRF Tyres team is Brescia’s Andrea Mabellini with co-driver Virginia Lenzi, on the Delta Rally’s Skoda RS. The current Under 25 Cup leaders, returning from the European round in Sweden, will aim to elevate their performance after a season of promising starts yet few results. Sicilian Andrea Nucita with Rudy Pollet, competing solely in the Absolute classification, will seek to capitalize on the technical advancements of the new Michelin-shod Hyundai i20 from Friulmotor, already tested in their home race.

 

The Due Valli rally could also be a deciding factor for the Italian Rally Promotion Championship, with Marco Signor and Daniele Michi currently leading, boasting two wins in three rounds. Fourth in the Absolute standings, the other Treviso driver will compete on Stepfive’s second Skoda RS, returning to Due Valli after four years. They will face off against Pavia’s Giacomo Scattolon and Gabriele Zanni on the FPF Sport Citroen, who, thanks to their win in the previous Sicily round, are now just 3 points behind in the Promotion standings. Slovene reigning champion Bostjan Avbelj, currently hampered by bad luck, will make his Due Valli debut with Damjian Andrejka on the MS Munaretto Skoda Fabia RS. In fifth place in CIRP is Reggio’s Antonio Rusce, consistently present with Sauro Farnocchia on the Erreffe Rally Team’s Skoda RS. Numerous Czech vehicles will start, including the latest generation RS driven by Fabrizio Guerra from Sondrio with Manuel Fenoli, and the Brescians “Pedro” with Stefano Tiraboschi and Alberto Dall’Era with Luca Beltrame. Belluno’s Nicola Sartor with Lorenzo Mattucci and Savona’s Francesco Aragno with Giancarla Guzzi will drive Skoda Evos. Local young driver Mattia Scandola, making his second appearance on home roads with Nicolò Gonella, returns after an excellent debut at Ciocco and a retirement in Piedmont. Making their Due Valli debut are Frusinate’s Liberato Sulpizio with Alessio Angeli on a Hyundai i20 and Rome’s Fabio Angelucci on a Citroen C3 with Massimo Cambria. It’s an interesting opportunity for Friuli’s Arianna Doriguzzi, paired with Elena Sica, to reclaim the lead in the ACI Sport Female Cup, also on a Skoda Evo.

TWO-WHEEL DRIVE, PISANI AGAINST EVERYONE | There are still many points to be awarded in the second half of the season, considering the two races with increased coefficients. Still, despite this, Gianandrea Pisani and Massimo Moriconi have a great opportunity to edge closer to the Two-Wheel Drive title. After three consecutive victories, the driver from Pietrasanta remains the benchmark in the junior category, once again dominated by the Peugeot 208 Rally4. The only exception is the Renault Clio of Ossola's Gabriel Di Pietro with Andrea Dresti, who, after a third place in the opener, now needs to make up for points due to a retirement in Alba and a missed round at the last Targa. An alternative to the Pisani-Moriconi duo could be Christopher Lucchesi and Enrico Bracchi, who come to Verona as the second force in the 2WD championship after three podiums, ahead of Piacenza's Giorgio Cogni with Simone Brachi, always in the Top 3 in their two appearances. Expected at their home race are Stefano Strabello with Fabio Grimaldi and Denis Vigliaturo with Ermanno Corradini, always present in the four rounds so far. Already a protagonist at the Targa with a third place, Edoardo De Antoni with Federica Mauri will try to confirm their performance, as will Pistoia's Daniele Campanaro with Irene Porcu, increasingly in sync with the new MRF tyres. Liguria's Emanuele Fiore with Andrea Casalini and Alex Ferrari with Matteo Nobili are returning to action.

THE TOYOTA FLEET RESTARTS | The GR Yaris Rally Cup will once again accompany the Sparco Italian Absolute Rally Championship, a trophy promoted and organized by Toyota Italy that brings the Yaris R1T4x4 to the national stage. There will be 13 cars competing in this second round, including the new face of Tengjin Bao, the first Chinese driver to compete in the CIAR Sparco. The trophy leader is Salvatore Lo Cascio, who will face top-tier opponents again, such as past winners Thomas Paperini and Simone Di Giovanni.

FOURTH SUZUKI ACT | After the southern stage in Salento within the Italian Rally Trophy, the Suzuki Rally Cup returns to accompany the Sparco CIAR for its fourth act. Verona will thus be an important stop for the trophy designed by Suzuki Italy, featuring 12 crews competing in both the one-make series and the Italian R1 Championship. The leader is still the young Sebastian Dallapiccola, who has dominated the first part of the season in the Swift Hybrid group but will have to fend off attacks from several rivals, such as the more experienced Roberto Pellé and Giorgio Fichera.

 

SPARCO CIAR OVERALL CLASSIFICATION: 1. Basso-Granai 45pt; 2. Crugnola-Ometto 43,5pt; 3. Campedelli-Canton 38pt; 4. Signor-Michi 26pt; 5. Scattolon-Zanni 24pt; 6. Nucita-Pollet 12.5pt; 7. Andreucci-Briani 11,5pt; 8. Re-Vozzo 11pt; 9. Avbelj-Adrejka 10,5pt; 10. Mabellini-Lenzi 5,5.

 

CIAR 2WD CLASSIFICATION: 1. Pisani 52,5pt; 2. Lucchesi 40pt; 3. Cogni 24pt; 4. Strabello 19,5pt; 5. Vigliaturo 18pt.

 

CIR PROMOTION CLASSIFICATION: 1. Signor 49pt; 2. Scattolon 46pt; 3. Re 26pt; 4 Avbelj 24,5pt; 5. Rusce 14pt;

 

SPARCO CIAR 2024 CHAMPIONSHIP: March 15-16 | Rally il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio; April 12-13 | Rally Regione Piemonte; May 10-11 | Rally Targa Florio (coeff. 1,5); May 26-29 | Rally Due Valli; July 26-28 | Rally di Roma Capitale (coeff. 1,5); September 13-14 | Rally 1000 Miglia; October 18-19 | Rally Sanremo (coeff. 1,5)

 

- Press Release with no regulatory value –

 

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