An evening of a thousand and one nights inaugurated the Rally di Roma Capitale 2023, the sixth round of the FIA European Rally Championship and the fifth of the Absolute Italian Rally Sparco Championship. The Capitoline event, organized by Max Rendina and Motorsport Italia, started from the Colosseum in front of thousands of enthusiasts and tourists who gathered in Colle Oppio for this extraordinary start.

 

In the presence of the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi, the Chief Technical Secretariat of the Minister of Sport Mario Pozzi, the Councilor for Urban Planning, Housing Policies, Social Housing, Sea Policies of the Lazio Region Pasquale Ciacciarelli, the President of the Capitoline Assembly of Rome Capital Svetlana Celli, of the Regional Councilor and President of the IV Budget Commission, economic-financial planning, regional participations, fiscal federalism, state property and patrimony Marco Bertucci and of the Regional Councilor Emanuela Droghei the eleventh edition of the Rally di Roma Capitale kicked off with all the best wishes.

 

From a sporting point of view, Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Elia Ometto (Citroen C3 Rally2) sensed the possibility of graduating Italian champions already in Rome and went on to win the SSS1 "Colosseo ACI Roma". Only 3 tenths of a second separated them from the returning Alexey Lukyanuk, co-driven by Yevhen Chervonenko, who had fun with his Skoda Fabia RS between the two wings of the crowd and put his signature, not only on the asphalt. Incredible third time for the Italian Francesco Aragno with Andrea Segir, detached by 0.5 seconds and visibly satisfied with the performance that allowed them to hoist themselves among the best drivers in Europe with the Skoda Fabia Rally2. Behind are all the others, with very narrow gaps as was obviously foreseeable in such a short special stage, served to give the first taste and launch the sprint to the real rally, the one that will start tomorrow.

 

Note the words of the New Zealand champion Hayden Paddon, leader of the European Championship and former driver in the World Championship: "it was the test in the most iconic place in which I have ever done a special stage". The Hyundai i20 N Rally2 driver set the ninth fastest time, but is ready to show his claws as early as tomorrow to make his title ambitions clear.

 

The second day will be divided into the trio of special stages "Guarcino-Altipiani di Arcinazzo" (11.72 km - SS2 at 10:03, SS5 at 15:02), the longest "Rocca di Cave-Subiaco" (32.30 km – SS3 11:06 and SS6 16:05), and “Affile-Bellegra” (7,32 km – SS4 12:09 and SS7 17:08). Do not miss the two passages on the "Rocca di Cave-Subiaco" stage which will be broadcast live on ACI Sport TV (ch. 228 of Sky, acisport.it, ACI Radio App and Facebook @ACISport and @CIRally). So the fate of the rally will be defined on Sunday, with two laps on three other different timed stretches; the short "Fiuggi" (6.72 km - SS8 7:51 and SS13 17:05) will open and close the final session as Power Stage for the European Championship, then "Alatri" (6.96 km - SS9 8:51 and SS11 13:01) and the other traditional test "Santopadre" (29.08 km - SS10 10:16 and SS12 14:26). Fiuggi will once again be the central point of reference for the hot phase, where the Assistance Park and the Headquarters are set up, and will host the final award ceremony, in Corso Nuova Italia, starting at 18:00.

 

Max Rendina was excited: "We worked so hard for this start and it all started off in the best possible way. Seeing all these people attending the show is a great message for Rome and for our sport, which we are working on with dedication to enhance and promote it. I thank Rome Capital that has given us the possibility of having a unique location of its kind and in particular the Councilor for Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion Alessandro Onorato who has been close to us for two years now.Having Minister Abodi has been a important added value, but I thank all the institutions that support us from the Lazio Region to all the administrations affected by the event. We have left, two intense days await us, but we are very happy".