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Third place for
Paolo Andreucci on 26th Rally San Martino di Castrozza at
the weekend saw the factory Fiat Grande Punto Rally driver
moving back into the lead of the 2006 CSAI Italian Rally
Championship with seven rounds now completed. The six points
Andreucci gained from finishing on the podium now move him
up to 44 points, joint with Subaru Impreza STi pilot Piero
Longhi, although the Fiat driver leads the title chase
thanks to his three wins compared to his rival's two.
The 26th running of the Rally San Martino di Castrozza,
based in the Alpine San Martino, was the seventh round of
the 2006 CSAI Italian Rally Championship, as well as holding
co-efficient 5 status in the FIA European Rally Cup for the
South West Region. It also counted towards the Trofeo Fiat
Abarth Internazionale and the Fiat Panda Rally Cup. Two
series' which were designed by Fiat as low-cost, entry-level
competitions open in particular to young rally drivers of
the future mustered 17 entries between the two categories,
and included Olympic Nordic Skiing Champion Fabio Valbusa
who was making a guest appearance behind the wheel one of
the fleet of punch little 1.2-litre Panda rally cars.
Having retired on the last round of the Italian Rally
Championship, the Rally del Salento held in June, Paolo
Andreucci had surrendered his championship lead to Piero
Longhi, going into last weekend's seventh round with 38
points to the experienced Subaru driver's 39 points. The
Fiat factory pilot (with regular co-driver Anna Andreussi
alongside as usual) needed to get his title challenge back
on track with a strong result on the fast, asphalt stages
that make up this popular rally. Meanwhile his Fiat team
mate Andrea Navarra, co-driven by Guido d'Amore, would be
looking for another solid result to strengthen his third
place in the championship points standings (29 pts). The
Fiat squad also welcomed a new title sponsor, that of
leading Italian employment agency Metis whose logos appeared
prominently on the bonnet and the bulging rear wheel arches
of the two blue and white "Super2000" category cars.
The rally this year comprised of 13 special stages totalling
195.1 km of competitive timed distance. The rally kicked off
last Thursday evening with the traditional event-opening
"super special" stage: a narrow, level altitude 1.23 km
all-asphalt encounter laid out in the shadow of the famous
CES Nuova Rosa Alpina ski lift, and which was won by
Longhi, with the two Fiats of Andreucci and Navarra 6th and
8th quickest respectively. The rally proper though started
on Friday morning with SS2, the 9.65 km "Compet" stage, and
Andreucci posted his intent to challenge for victory by
going fastest and moving straight up the order to second
place overall.
However, on an event that was hit by changing weather
conditions with sudden showers prevalent, victory was not to
be within the Fiat driver's grasp, not helped in a big part
by a 10-second time penalty he incurred during the event,
and despite winning SS2, SS5, SS9, SS10, SS12, posting the
second fastest time on SS7 and SS13, and third best times on
SS3 and SS11, he had to settle for a visit to the bottom
rung of the podium. Andreucci set quickest times on five
stages, compared to rally winner Renato Travaglia who
claimed four fastest scratch times. While Andrea
Dallavilla followed Travalglia home to make it a 1-2 finish
for the Mitsubishi brand, the Fiat star finished one place
ahead of his title rival Piero Longhi, the one extra point
he gained for that achievement putting him back into the
championship points' lead.
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