Last weekend rally fans enjoyed a drama-packed seventh round of 2005 CSAI Italian Rally Championship, the Rally Alpi Orientali, run across the North-Eastern region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and just few kilometers from the Slovenian border. The recent improvements achieved by "Production" category cars such as the Subaru Impreza STi and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 again reached again levels of performance that the Super1600 cars just can't sustain.

Indeed it is a fact that the Super1600 class vehicles are now completing their lifecycle - and due to the upcoming and refreshed Super2000 specifications eagerly awaited for the next year - Paolo Andreucci and Anna Andreussi, the Fiat works' crew elected to contest the Italian Rally Championship 2005 - were able to score their fifth class success over seven rounds.

On the Wednesday - well before the rally started - Paolo Andreucci went off road with his production-series Fiat Punto HGT, while driving on the stages and making pace notes with his co-driver. After leaving the accident-damaged Punto HGT in the hands of his team, just an hour after the crash, Paolo Andreucci then crashed his Super1600 model which was ready for the Friday start. The Fiat mechanics then had a frantic weekend's work to restore the rally car to full working order for the official round.

After this had been resolved, the Tuscan driver had not too many issues to overcome in order to impose his skill and driving abilities on claiming the Super1600 class leadership once the Rally Alpi Orientali got underway. In fact, his main challenger for the Super1600 Italian title of 2005 - Renato Travaglia - ruined his Renault Clio Super1600 by brushing a wall and losing about a minute on the first very special stage.

The gap to the 'Production' car drivers after the six stages of the first leg was unbridgeable, 53 seconds after an hour of rally stages demonstrating amply the level of competitiveness which has now been reached by the Japanese rallycar makers. Just one year ago the Rally Alpi Orientali was merely a matter for the Fiat duo of Giandomenico Basso and Paolo Andreucci to dispute between themselves.

The second leg saw all the eight stages run in pretty much optimum conditions, with just a few sections of the road being damp where it wound under the forest cover. It confirmed that the abundance of torque and maximum power of Andrea Aghini, driving a Top Run Racing's Impreza, Piero Longhi, in Aimont Racing's similar Subaru model, and an unexpected and surprising performance from youngster Andrea Perego, at the wheel of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Italia Lancer Evo 8, were always on the highest of levels. Paolo Andreucci in the Fiat factory supported Fiat Punto Super1600 completed the leg in seventh place overall with a gap of 1:28.5 and assured leadership of the Super1600 class, with Luca Bizzarri piloting Power Car Team's Renault Clio Super1600 in 8th place overall, 16 seconds adrift Andreucci.

The incredible performance increase of the group N cars, such Impreza and Lancer, took a knock though after the verdict of the rally stewards, who swiftly penalised the rally winner Andrea Aghini Lombardi, at the wheel of the Top Run's Impreza Spec.C.
 

 The Tuscan driver, while driving from the last stage end to the rally and the podium celebrations, departed from the laid-down course provided by the organiser's roadbook, and entered in a private courtyard, where Aghini 'officially' changed a front tyre while letting his co-driver to have a pause to visit the toilet. However the truth seems to be very different, because Mr Agnello, one of the Top Run team managers', happened to be present in this courtyard and rumours quickly spread to the effect that Aghini reinstalled the mandatory air intake restrictor for the turbochanger of the boxer-engine powered Subaru Impreza. This fact means that Aghini could easily have run all the stages of the rally with a lot of power more than allowed. Such astuteness cost him "only" 15 minutes in the final rally classification, costing the overall victory. Such issues muddy the waters, making it slightly unclear in the minds of Italian rally fans, as to the way the Production cars have gained more than two seconds per kilometer in only a year, since Giandomenico Basso won the previous edition of Rally Alpi Orientali with the Trico Motor Sport's Fiat Punto Super1600 in 2004 specification.

The Friuli's event was also an interesting round for the Fiat Panda Rally Cup, the first time the inaugural 'entry level' Fiat rally series had been run with the premier Italian series. The Panda 'promotional' series sees the production 1242cc engine empowered from 80 to 130bhp by the Piedmont's Supergara tuner, and while the front wheel drive layout is retained, an upgraded level of road grip is achieved thanks to enlarged arches and new suspension techniques. This new rally car nabled the nine crews taking part to race for a rich total prize. The Panda Cup was won by Ivan Paire, who now has a single point lead over Gianni Barbati in the overall Panda classification. Ill luck hit Barbati - a accident on the penultimate stage - cost him more than 10 minutes.

The next round of the Italian Rally Championship will the worldwide famous Rallye Sanremo, on September 22-24th, where Fiat Panda Rally Cup will also be concomitant. New famous entries are awaited for Sanremo as there are rumours circulating that Lapo Elkann will be at the wheel of Fiat's small city car, and also that young Brazilian hot shot Augusto Farfus, an Alfa Romeo Squadra Corse factory driver competing in the FIA World Touring Car Championship this year - will also take part.

Italian Rally Championship 2005 drivers classification (after 7 rounds) overall: 1. Longhi, 90; 2. Navarra, 65; 3. Cantamessa, 50; 4. Andreucci, 48; 5. Travaglia 47; 6. Aghini, 35; 7. Bizzarri, 26; 8. Sottile, 25; 9. Gamba, 20; 10. Dallavilla, 18.

Italian Rally Championship 2005 constructors classification: 1. Subaru, 100; 2. Mitsubishi, 92; 3. Renault, 50; 4. Fiat, 45; 5. Citroen, 16.

Italian Rally Championship 2005 Super1600 drivers classification: 1. Andreucci (Fiat Punto Abarth), 95; 2. Travaglia (Renault), 80; 3. Dallavilla (Citroen), 68; 4. Bizzarri (Renault), 63; 5. Perico (Renault), 34; 6. Colombini (Fiat Punto), 20; 7. Medici (Fiat Punto), 19; 8. Fiocco (Renault), 12.