The Rally di Roma Capitale ended with a great party, which today in Fiuggi waved the checkered flag after one of the most beautiful editions ever in front of the public on special occasions. The event organized by Max Rendina and Motorsport Italia crowned, for the first time, Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Elia Ometto, true rulers of the Capitoline race valid as the sixth round of the FIA European Rally Championship and fifth of the Italian Absolute Rally Sparco Championship.

 

The Italian series today experienced its hottest phase as with this fifth consecutive success Crugnola, Ometto and their Citroen C3 Rally2 secured, with three races to spare, the crown of Italian Rally Champions 2023. A capital performance celebrated at the Rally di Roma Capitale which for the first time in its history was the decisive appointment for the assignment of a title.

 

Crugnola and Ometto won eight of the thirteen scheduled specials including the SSS1 “Colosseo ACI Roma” which inaugurated the race on Friday 28 July with an unprecedented show in front of a particularly large audience. On the Colle Oppio circuit Crugnola secured his first points and made his goal clear, which he then celebrated on Sunday in Fiuggi at the end of the over 700 kilometers scheduled and almost 200 timed in the presence of Mayor Alioska Baccarini, and Councilors Laura Latini and Mark Fiorini.

 

"We are really satisfied - Crugnola commented at the finish line - for many years the victory in Rome had eluded us by a whisker and getting it today by also conquering the Italian title for the third time was a really important emotion. I thank my team, the my sponsors, Pietro who is always perfect and all those who support us".

 

Behind Crugnola the race was anything but obvious, but it rewarded the excellence of Italian rallying. Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai, on Skoda Fabia RS, finished in second place overall at the end of a truly concrete performance resulting from the great experience of both, albeit in the second race with the new weapon of the Czech brand. At first chasing Crugnola, once realizing that the Varese had something more, Basso engaged in an electrifying confrontation with the French Yoann Bonato-Benjamin Boulloud (Citroen C3 Rally2) who decided on the penultimate special, the second passage over 29 kilometers of “Holy Father”.

 

Precisely on this test, the standings underwent a major jolt. Bonato was slowed down by a puncture and thus left the pace and finished seventh. The episode allowed a comeback Hayden Paddon, leader of the European series with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 navigated by John Kennard, to take the chair for third place. The New Zealander had been slowed down by a hit on the long "Rocca di Cave-Subiaco" on Saturday, but he then recovered to claw the podium, a fundamental performance for his race for the continental title.

 

The punctures on the SS12 decided the positions close to the podium. The Italian crews Mabellini-Lenzi and Campedelli-Canton, both on Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, lost the chance to finish in the top five in this stretch, thus leaving the green light to the reigning European champions Efren Llarena-Sara Fernandez (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 ), fourths at the end even if separated by 1'54 due to damage to the radiator suffered on the SS10. The Fiuggi Power Stage, the last of the programme, instead decided the fifth place went to Bostjan Avbelj and Damijan Andrejka (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo), ahead of the Austrians Simon Wagner-Gerald Winter (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2).

 

Closing the top ten, after Bonato, were therefore the Hungarians Miklós Csomós-Viktor Bán eighth, the Poles Grzegorz Grzyb-Jakub Wróbel ninth and the Czechs Filip Mareš and Radovan Bucha tenth, all on Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.

 

Italian joy also in the ERC Junior and ERC4 category for the success of Roberto Daprà and Luca Guglielmetti on Peugeot 208 Rally4 who thus brought the colors of ACI Team Italia to the top step of the podium. In the standings of the Italian Absolute Rally Sparco Championship alone, it was therefore Avbelj who took the points for third place behind Crugnola and Basso. For the Italian Promozione Championship, Ferrarotti-Bizzocchi and Bottarelli-Bosi also completed the podium behind Avbelj, also in this case all on Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.

 

Satisfaction for Gianandrea Pisani who won again the Absolute Italian Two Wheel Drive Rally Championship, and with the fifth victory out of five he was crowned Italian Champion with three races to go. First tricolor joy on the Roman roads for Riccardo Pederzani, winner of the third round of the Absolute Italian Rally Junior Championship. The Varese man navigated by Edoardo Brovelli found the speed to put his A teammates in check