Paolo Andreucci goes into the final leg of the 29th Rally del Ciocco this morning holding a commanding overall lead in the Fiat Grande Punto Abarth Rally, and with a stunning debut win for the brand-new Super2000 rally machine beckoning.

After yesterday's nine stage programme of the 29th Rally del Ciocco, Paolo Andreucci and co-driver Anna Andreussi hold a comfortable 35.3 second advantage over their nearest rivals overall. The long awaited debut of the Fiat Grande Punto Abarth Rally - built to the FIA's new low-cost Super2000 regulations - began in earnest when the new car screamed into competitive action for the first time on the opening spectator-friendly 'super special' stage held on Friday evening. No-one was really sure how the car would compare in anger to the more powerful, highly-developed GpN machines from Mitsubishi and Subaru, or the nimble Super 1600 cars, on the twisting tarmac stages that make up the Rally del Ciocco.

But the new rallycar has proved to be a real revelation over the 107.59 timed kilometres (out of a total route distance of 298.63km) that made up the first full day of action. The opening stage of the day (SS2) saw Andreucci 7th fastest and Navarra 10th, as the two Fiat crews settled into the action with their brand-new cars. Andreucci immediately served notice that he was chasing nothing less than a debut overall victory when he posted fastest time on the next stage, 10.9 seconds faster than Stefano Bizzarrini in the Power Car Team-entered Renault ClioS1600, the little Super1600 car which was responding to the ideal rally surfaces to pip the GpN hordes. Navarra too was getting to grips with his Fiat, posting 4th fastest time in the process, 14.2 seconds off his team mate. Andreucci thus moved into the overall rally lead, 6.6 seconds ahead of Andrea Aghini's GpN Subaru Impreza STI, a leading position he wouldn't relinquish all day.

Stage 4 saw Andreucci setting his second fastest time of the day, 4.1 seconds ahead of Bizzarrini, which increased the Fiat driver's lead to 11.6 seconds. The long-time Fiat pilot then made it three win in a row on SS5, sweeping the stage 3.4 seconds ahead of the Renault pilot, increasing his advantage to 16.3 seconds over Bizzarrini, who had now displaced Aghini from second place in the general classification.
 

The next test, SS6, saw Andreucci and Navarra jointly tied for the 6th fastest stage time, the pair just 2.4 seconds behind Renato Travaglia's GpN Mitsubishi Evo IX, although he increased his lead over the rest of the competitors to 19.5 seconds. Andreucci posted yet another fastest stage time on SS7, 6.7 seconds ahead of Luca Cantamessa (Subaru Impreza STI) with team mate Navarra a further 0.3 seconds back in 3rd place. Andreucci's overall rally lead was now up to 27.3 seconds, and it was to go up even further, to over half a minute, on SS8 as he posted his fifth stage win of the day, 3.6 seconds ahead of Andrea Dallavilla (Mitsubishi Evo IX). The final stage of the day saw Andreucci cruising to the finish line in second place, 0.8 seconds behind Gianfranco Cunico (Mitsubishi Evo IX).

All in all it was a stunning first day's competitive action from the brand-new Fiat Grande Punto Abarth, a vindication for all those who have pushed the Super2000 concept to fruition. As dusk fell yesterday Paolo Andreucci drove into overnight parc ferme with a 35.3 second advantage over Stefano Bizzarrini (Renault Clio S1600), 38.7 seconds over Renato Travaglia (Mitsubishi Evo) and 41.1 seconds over Andrea Aghini (Subaru Impreza). Andrea Navarra in the second N.Technology-run Fiat Grande Punto Abarth Rally was in a solid 7th place overall, 56 seconds off the lead, as he adjusted to driving a Super2000 car after very little testing time.

Paolo Andreucci now faces a distance to cover of 201.91km on the rally's final day, today, of which 62.02km is timed and split over four stages, before the rally finally finishes in the early afternoon. If he can keep it all safely together and bring the new car home to a debut win it will be mission accomplished for the Fiat team, and a resounding start to this new rallying era.