The sixth round of the CSAI sanctioned 2005 Italian Rally Championship, the San Martino Rally, saw Paolo Andreucci in the official Fiat Punto Super 1600 claim victory in the front wheel drive category, as well as second place overall.

However this event, run on an all-tarmac surface handed the overall victory to Andrea Navarra in a Mitsubishi Evo VII, confirming that the days when the little front wheel drive 'Super 1600' category cars - such as the Fiat Punto, Citroen C2 and Renault Clio - could turn in giant killing acts on the tarmac and win events are rapidly drawing to a close. Since 2003 - when the frontline WRC machines were banned from national championships across Europe - the Super 1600 'production' machines have lived on borrowed time, always in danger of losing their competitive edge over the Gp N Mitsubishi Evos and Subaru Imprezas, although Paolo Andreucci was able to defeat the odds and become the 2003 CSAI Italian Rally Champion driving a Procar supported Fiat Punto Abarth Super1600.

The Super1600 cars always showed top performances on the tarmac - especially so when it was dry and clean - with excellent top speeds coupled to phenomenal handling abilities on the fast direction changes. Weight has been probably been the biggest key of their continuing success, as it was set by FIA at just 1,000 kg - based on the K/10 rules which had been valid up to 2001 - when the Super1600 forerunners had been running to a minimum weight of 950 kg along with no restrictions to the atmospheric engine air intakes.

The Rally of San Martino di Castrozza would be a demonstration of the Gp N car's ability to close the gap on tarmmac, and so the first leg showed up dramatically the final end of the dominance of the production car equipped crews as Piero Longhi and Maurizio Imerito in their Subaru Aimont Impreza, were able to score unbeaten times on the opening stages, but with several of the other Group N drivers also being able to post best scratch times.

At the 'Super-Special' stage run last Thursday night around San Martino di Castrozza - one of the most beautiful Alpine villages on the Italian side of Dolomites - Longhi claimed the quickest time, set in rainy conditions, in 2:04.4. Paolo Andreucci and Renato Travaglia, in their 'official' Procar Fiat Punto Abarth and Autorel Renault Clio respectively, equaling each other as best Super1600 driver's, just 6.9 seconds adrift.

When the crews moved from San Martino di Castrozza for the Friday stages, located around Baselga di Pinè, they encountered an asphalt surface still wet - due to overnight rain - but a sunny day was promising to give high expectations for Super1600 crews. In fact SS2, the 9.65 km Compet stage, had Piero Longhi squeezing out the best time, with Travaglia at only +0.2 seconds back, and Paolo Andreucci third best at +0.5, and all the other Production drivers still very near to those best times.
 

The first leg's longest stage was the 24.54  km long Val dei Mocheni stage. Its first, very fast, three kilometres opening section looked more like a Grand Prix track than rally track, which gave way to a short, twisty section rising to an upper level which then changed abruptly to a fearful descent - complete with pot-holed and still-damp tarmac between the Alpine woodlands - and then switching to a quiet part, only to be interrupted by a second ascent to over 1500 metres above sea level, with an half kilometer undertaken on the gravel and a quick section over a picturesque wooden bridge thrown in as well.  This tricky stage was the key of the first day and Longhi was to score his third straight best time, with a 17:43.8, while Andreucci was the best of the Super1600 bunch, 5.5 seconds back. Much the same results were to be seen on the shorter SS4 Baselga stage, with Andrea Aghini in the Top Run-entered Subaru Impreza this time going fastest for the GpN machines, and Paolo Andreucci again the best Super1600 driver, but only in 8th position, with a 6.5 second deficit.

After the first loop of stages, the Longhi-Imerito crew had already established a quite comfortable advantage of 14.9 seconds over the 2004 Italian Rally Champion Andrea Navarra, and Punto pilot Andreucci in third with 16.9 second disadvantage. The first leg then had two further loops of the those stages, undertaken without much differences in the stage times. Paolo Andreucci turned in the second quickest time on SS5 Compet stage, with a slender 0.6 second advantage over Andrea Navarra. The second repetition of the Val dei Mocheni stage saw Longhi again posting the best time with and eleven second cushion over Navarra, with Andreucci in fifth place, 14.4 seconds adrift, while the second run on the Baselga stage, was dominated again by Aghini, with the Tuscan Fiat driver seventh best, 8 seconds off the top.

After the second loop of the stages was completed, Longhi had consolidated his advantage to 19 seconds over Andrea Navarra, while best Super1600 driver was still Paolo Andreucci, 4th overall, and exactly 30 seconds back. Nothing really changed during third stage of the reduced loop: the first leg was dominated by Piero Longhi with a total time 1:29.12.7, Andrea Navarra 2nd at +13.9, Aghini at +27.7, and Paolo Andreucci 4th at +41.3.

Everybody was remembering by this point that 2004 edition of San Martino di Castrozza, had been played out to completely different music, with Giandomenico Basso and Paolo Andreucci holding the first two overall positions -despite an abundance of rain - with a very comfortable minute's advantage over all the other crews. The Subaru Impreza Type C 2005 revision, and latest Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 MR specification, are cars which are really developed for rallying competition, and although these cars can be bought at any local, Japanese-branded garage, their lightweight chassis', adoption of carbon fibre materials on aerodynamic parts, bigger brake discs, and turbochargers optimised to push out more engine torque, demonstrate that the era of the nimble and quick front wheel drive Super 1600 cars on tarmac is quickly drawing to close.

The second leg's six stages saw Andreucci starting fourth, chasing still at the heels of the Gp N machines of Navarra, Longhi and Aghini. Once the latter to dropped by the wayside the Fiat Punto pilot was able to close up to second place, while at the same time fending off the close attention of Travaglia's Renault Clio in the Super 1600 category, who posted two fastest times on the final day. Andreucci - who is dovetailing the Italian Rally Championship this year with development of Fiat's proposed 'Super 2000' contender - finished the final day of the rally with a flourish, setting fastest time on the 23.77 SS11 'Malene' stage.

Report & Photos: Marco Tenuti

2005 ITALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP - SAN MARTINO RALLY: FINAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION: 1.NAVARRA-GIRELLI    2:32:03.1  Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Vii N4; 2.ANDREUCCI-ANDREUSSI +25.8; Fiat Punto S1600 A6; 3.TRAVAGLIA-ZANELLA +31.1 Renault Clio S1600 A6; 4.CANTAMESSA-CAPOLONGO +1:07.9 Subaru Impreza Sti N4; 5.SOTTILE-GORNI +1:18.7 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Vii N4; 6.BIZZARRI-BOSI +2:27.1 Renault Clio S1600 A6; 7.PEREGO-DE LUIS +2:42.0 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Vii N4; 8.PERICO-CARRARA +3:47.7 Renault Clio S1600 A6