The Fiat Grande Punto Rally’s first win on gravel will have to wait a bit longer, although the two factory N.technology crews, Paolo Andreucci/Anna Andreussi and Andrea Navarra/Guido D’Amore, both finished on the podium of the San Marino Rally, having done well to recover from early troubles which cost them valuable time. In fact leg two yesterday saw the pair imperiously sweep up all the day's stages.

The 34th San Marino Rally, round five of the 2006 Italian Rally Championship, was the second of two gravel rounds counting for the Italian series and represented a crucial point for the main contenders. For Piero Longhi and Subaru, who had won the previous gravel event (the Rally dell’Adriatico), it represented their best opportunity to reduce the deficit between themselves and the N.technology Fiat Grande Punto S2000 of Paolo Andreucci in the championship standings.  For Andreucci and Navarra, meanwhile, the event represented an excellent opportunity to score the Grande Punto’s first win on gravel.

It was very clear from the very beginning of the rally that drivers from both the Subaru and Mitsubishi camps were going to do their best in order to gain their longed-for victory and try to alter the championship’s fate. Champions from Mitsubishi and Subaru (including such luminaries as Renato Travaglia, Franco Cunico, Andrea Dallavilla, Sandro Sottile, Piero Longhi and Andrea Aghini) knew perfectly well that they couldn’t make the slightest mistake in order to claim victory and stay in the title hunt. To make everything even more difficult, rain had made the Monte Rocca and Mercatello special stages particularly challenging, churning the harsh gravel into mud.

After the first two special stages of leg one last Friday, FIA European Rally Champion Renato Travaglia (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) had overtaken Piero Longhi (Subaru STi) and the Mitsubishi of Gianfranco Cunico.  After posting second- and third-fastest times on the opening 5.9km Monte Roca 1 stage, Andreucci and Navarra had been hindered on SS2, the 23.58km Mercatello 1. For the former, the delay was caused by a malfunctioning windscreen wiper, caused by contact from a low-hanging branch, which cost him around a minute; Navarra, on the other hand, was delayed by adjustments that he was forced to make to his car. After the first service stop, Longhi launched an all-out attack on the Mitsubishi driver and, during the repeat running of the Mercatello stage, overtook his competitor, in the process claiming the rally lead. Aghini was also on the move, climbing to third at the expense of Cunico, who was slowed by a puncture.

Just as the forecasters had predicted, the 23.58km Mercatello stage represented the turning point of leg one, since on the third passage through the stage, Longhi and his Subaru Impreza gained the best time and finished leg one at the head of the field, ahead of Travaglia (Mitsubishi) and Andrea Aghini (Subaru). An anxious Aghini, reaching the service park with an unhealthy noise emanating from the gearbox, had matters made worse by a time penalty that saw him fall to 10th position at the end of the day. Navarra inherited third place overall after a careful, steady run which kept him out of trouble and close to the leaders – he was now just 17 seconds adrift of Travaglia in second. Andrea Dallavilla (Mitsubishi) was in fourth place, having overtaken championship leader Andreucci.
 

After their delays on SS2, the Fiat drivers had bounced back in style on the final four stages of the day, with Andreucci claiming three third fastest overall times and winning SS5 (Monte Rocca 2), while Navarra had a third, fourth, fifth and sixth fastest time to his credit as leg one drew to a close.

Yesterday’s leg two was made up of six special stages, including the tough 27.71km Citta di Castello, which was scheduled to be run three times. However, this soon became twice, as the first stage of the day (SS8, the first run through Citta di Castello) was cancelled, compressing the final day’s action into just five stages.

The rally blew open on the first stage of the day, the 11.7 km Monte Vicino 1, as second-placed Travaglia lost 1:33.7, plunging him down the leaderboard into 10th place and right out of the winning action. In the meantime, following the previous day’s problems, Andreucci was on a charge and won the stage from Longhi and team-mate Navarra. This vaulted the Fiat driver up the leaderboard to claim the second place that Travaglia had previously occupied, while Navarra moved up into third. It was the same story on SS11 (Citta di Castello 2), with Andreucci soundly beating Longhi by 9.7 seconds to cut the Subaru driver’s lead down to 53.7 seconds, although with just three stages remaining, Longhi was in ‘cruise control’.

Next up was SS12 (Monte Vicino 2), a stage which saw Andreucci taking his third fastest time of the day. The Grande Punto Rally looked very smooth and fast on the tricky surfaces, although with Longhi’s lead only coming down to 50.2 seconds, it was going to take a mistake or mechanical problem for the Super2000 Fiat to claim its first gravel win. Continuing a clean sweep of the day’s stages by the Grande Punto S2000, Navarra stormed the penultimate stage of the rally, the final running of the 27.71km Citta di Castello, completing the tricky test 10.1 seconds clear of Aghini’s Subaru. Aghini himself was rapidly climbing back up the leaderboard after his overnight penalty had dropped him right to the bottom of the top ten, and was by this stage up to fourth place. Navarra’s fastest time cemented his position in third overall, whilst Andreucci, who was third quickest on this test, continued to chip away at Longhi’s lead, which was now down to 45.4 seconds. Navarra also claimed the quickest time on the final stage to give the Fiat Grande Punto Rally a clean sweep of stage victories on the final leg, giving him a third place finish behind team-mate Andreucci and rally winner Piero Longhi, with Aghini doing very well to claim fourth after his penalty.

Second place gave Andreucci eight valuable points in his bid to claim this year’s Italian Rally Championship, taking his total to 38 points. Following his second win of the year, Longhi clawed back the deficit slightly, closing the gap by two points. This leaves him in second place on 38 points, seven points adrift, although with the majority of the remaining rounds scheduled to be contested on tarmac, the Subaru driver would have preferred to have reduced the gap by a more significant amount. Fiat’s other pilot, Navarra, now has 24 points and thus leapfrogs Cantamessa into third place in the standings.