The Fiat Grande Punto Super2000 wrapped up its debut rally year in real style this week, with Paolo Andreucci and Andrea Navarra powering the machine to a stunning and crushing 1-2 victory on the Italian Rally Championship’s season finale, the 19th Rally di San Crispino.  This was the car’s second win on gravel, coming just weeks after its first win on a loose surface during the last round of the series, the Rally Costa Smeralda, and at a stroke silencing the critics who said it could only shine on asphalt.  It was also Andreucci’s fourth consecutive rally win in the series, and in fact his seventh victory out of eleven rallies, a crushingly dominant performance from a brand-new rallycar which has gone from strength-to-strength as its development programme has proceeded at full pace all year. 

This was an excellent performance from the naturally-aspirated 2-litre four-wheel drive rallycar, which was built by Fiat specially to conform to the FIA’s new lower-cost ‘Super2000’ regulations.  It also rounded out a superb year for Fiat in the Italian Rally Championship (CIR): the car made its competitive debut on the first round of the series back in March when Paolo Andreucci and co-driver Anna Andreussi steered the car to victory first time out.  Having sewn up the CIR title last time out on the Costa Smeralda, the experienced duo ended their season in the best possible way, fending off all challengers to comfortably win the Rally di San Crispino. 

Andrea Navarra made it a perfect result for Fiat by following his team-mate home, having shadowed him throughout the event.  Navarra, an acknowledged gravel surface expert, brought plenty of experience to the equation: he won the event back in 2001 driving a Subaru Impreza WRC, with Simona Fedeli co-driving on that occasion.  He badly wanted to win this event and claim his first victory with the Super2000 Grande Punto, but despite this ambition, the best efforts of co-driver Guido D’Amore, and four fastest stage times on the final day, he couldn’t quite match the pace of Andreucci. 

The 19th edition of the Rally di San Crispino was to be contested over two legs and 15 timed special stages.  Andreucci kicked off the six-stage leg 1 with a win on SS1 to leap straight into the rally lead.  His only serious rival at the front came from Anton Alén (Subaru Impreza Spec. C), son of the legendary Markku Alén, who muscled into the rally lead on SS2, before Andreucci swiftly reclaimed it on SS3.  Alén moved back to the top of the classification on SS4, but the achievement was to be short-lived, Andreucci wresting the lead back on SS5 and holding it until the finish.  With three fastest scratch times after a somewhat inconsistent leg 1 (which also included a third, ninth and sixteenth-fastest time), Andreucci headed to parc fermé overnight with a slender 4.3 second advantage over Alén, with team-mate Navarra 15.9 seconds from the lead in third place.  Navarra had one second, one sixth, two third and two fourth-fastest times to his name from the opening leg.

Leg 2 dawned promisingly, with an exciting fight looming between the Fiat and the Subaru for the rally win, but the challenge from young Alén faded early on and Andreucci, with three fastest final day times, ran out the winner, securing victory with an advantage of 11.2 seconds over team-mate Navarra.
 

The two Fiat drivers simply left their rivals trailing on the final day, with the third-placed Longhi (Subaru) finishing a distant 1 minute 24.4 seconds behind Andreucci.  Navarra had himself started the second leg determined to challenge for the overall victory, and he turned in four stage wins, two seconds, two thirds and a fourth-best time on his way to an eventual second place.  Andreucci was also a model of speed and consistency on the final day, posting three stage wins, one second, four third placings and one fourth-quickest time as he simply controlled his advantage from the front. 

This was also Fiat’s first win on the Rally di San Crispino, the historic Turinese carmaker finally putting the record straight on the 19th edition of the rally.  Ford has the best record, having won the rally four times; Opel, Renault and Toyota have three wins each, while Subaru, Mitsubishi, Alfa Romeo, BMW and Peugeot all have one victory to their name. 

Paolo Andreucci was confirmed as the Italian champion on the last event, but with another 10 points to his name he ends the 2006 CIR season with 78 points from a maximum possible 80 (84 before dropping scores), a massive 20 points clear of Piero Longhi, the Subaru driver having collected 58 points (65 before dropping scores).  Longhi has been a model of consistency all year, taking two outright wins early in the season, and failing to score in just one rally, compared to Andreucci’s two retirements.  Navarra finished third in the championship with a total of 49 points (53), while fourth went to Renato Travaglia who racked up 44 points.  The latter also had the honour of being the only driver apart from Andreucci and Longhi to win a CIR event this year, with the Mitsubishi Evo driver claiming mid-season back-to-back victories. 

19th Rally di San Crispino – Final Classification: 1. Andreucci/Andreussi (Fiat Grande Punto Rally) 1 hr 48:22.9; 2. Navarra/D’Amore (Fiat Grande Punto Rally) + 11.2; 3. Longhi/Imerito (Subaru Impreza STi) + 1:24.4; 4. Gamba/Inglesi (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) + 1:57.2; 5. Cantamessa/Capolongo (Subaru Impreza) + 1:58.7; 6. Scorcioni/Cerlini (Subaru Impreza Spec. C) + 2:15.3; 7. Martelli/Pisano (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) + 3:17.2; 8. Bentivogli/Cecchi (Subaru Impreza Spec. C) + 4:05.8; 9. Ricci/Baruffa (Subaru Impreza Spec. C) + 4:11.3; 10. Broccoli/Stefanelli (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) + 4:35.8.

CSAI Italian Rally Championship – Final drivers’ standings (after 11 rounds): 1. Andreucci (Fiat) 78 points (84); 2. Longhi (Subaru) 58 (65); 3. Navarra (Fiat) 49 (53); 4. Travaglia (Mitsubishi) 44; 5. Aghini (Subaru) 38; 6. Dallavilla (Mitsubishi) 34; 7. Cantamessa (Subaru) 20; 8. Sottile (Mitsubishi) 15; 9. Rossetti (Peugeot) 15; 10. Cunico (Mitsubishi) 12; 11. Bizzarri (Renault) 12.