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Luca Rossetti extended his FIA European
Rally Championship lead to 48 points after a
maximum points haul on the Rali Vinho da
Madeira following a solid run to third
overall which was only blighted by a
puncture that stopped the Abarth driver's
bid for overall victory |
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Luca Rossetti extended
his FIA European Rally Championship lead to 48 points
after a maximum points haul on the Rali Vinho da Madeira
following a solid run to third overall which was only
blighted by a puncture that stopped the Abarth driver's
bid for overall victory.
However Rossetti, the reigning ERC champion who is
pitching for his third crown in the prestigious series
this year, didn't put a foot wrong and, despite his
stage five puncture which cost him 1 minute and 35.4
seconds, he was able to finish the first full day in
third place overall, comfortably clear of his closest
ERC title challenger Luca Betti to collect the maximum
day points on offer.
After the first four
tests Rossetti had been in the thick of the action,
lying second overall, sandwiched by the two top
Portuguese drivers: 7.9 seconds off rally leader Bruno
Magalhaes and 10.9 seconds in front of Vítor Sá. That
puncture was costly, it left him third, 1 minute and 43
seconds off Magalhaes. After SS11, at the end of Leg 1,
with his foot off the gas Rossetti was comfortable third
overall +2:08.09) and first in the ERC standings with a
minute in hand over Betti.
With only the two rapid local drivers in front of him on
the final day's eight stages, separated by an
insurmountable gap, barring any problems for the Peugeot
drivers, and with Betti dropping further and further out
of the picture with gearbox issues, "Rox" was able to
control his third place to collect the full allocation
of championship points as well as another maximum haul
on offer for the second day.
As the season moves past the halfway point Rossetti has
extended is cushion over second placed Betti to 48
points; the Abarth driver is now on 185 points thanks to
the 39 points he collected in Madeira while Betti is on
137 points, the Peugeot driver picking up another 29
points on the Portuguese island. There are five rounds
left to be contested. However while Betti is Rossetti's
only real remaining challenger to the ERC crown, he is
consistently collecting points, having scored on five of
the six rounds held so far, and any slip up by the
Abarth pilot would play right into the Peugeot driver's
hands. Third in the standings after 6 rounds is Polish
driver Maciej Oleksowicz (Ford Fiesta S2000), he remains
on 82 points after retiring in Madeira, while fourth is
Czech Antonín Tlusták on 76 points, he is the only
driver to have scored points on all six rounds.
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