04.10.2003 MIRCO BALDACCI'S FIAT PUNTO CONTINUES TO LEAD THE JUNIORS ON THE RALLY SAN REMO

The beginning of the second leg of Sanremo Rally started with several top drivers of the Junior World Rally Championship missing. A number of drivers and their teams opted to abandon the event, due to the difficulties of the second leg, which counts fewer special stages than the opening leg but includes the longest stage even run on the tarmac, the Teglia stage. 52 kms of twisted run alternating with narrow and wide roads is really demanding for the resistance capabilities of the Super1600 cars and require their drivers to prove their skill and ability to remain concentrated for such long distance.

This is why Marco Ligato with Top Run Racing's Fiat Punto doesn't start the second leg, while the Frenchman Brice Tirabassi of the official Renault Clio team retired during the last run from the last stage to the park assistance of Friday evening, with a electronic failure and fuel issues with the French Super1600 car.

The terrible Teglia stage claims another important victim of the Junior championship: Daniel Carlsson, who hadn't planned to attack the rally leader Mirco Baldacci's Hi-Tec Punto, but was concentrating on points for the championship, has a puncture at 2 km from the stage finish line, and retires with resulting mechanical failure. It's a hard stop for the Swede and his ambition to close the gap in the provisional JWRC leaderboard. The fast young Swedish rallyman is currently talking with Peugeot Sport regarding the third vacant seat in the World Rally Championship 2004 on the upcoming Peugeot 307 CC WRC.

Massimo Ceccato, driving the second Fiat Punto of Top Run team, wins the stage and more up the classification, while Mirco Baldacci has to administer the important gain he accumulated during the previous leg.

The next stages, Cosio 2 and San Bartolomeo 2, were trouble free for all the Junior crews, with Mirco Baldacci allowing himself the luxury of winning a
stage, with positions remaining unchanged on the scoreboard, as Kris Meeke at the wheel of Palmer's Opel Corsa atismore than two minutes adrift while five drivers are battling for the last position of the podium.

It's on the repetition of the Teglia stage, the last of the day, that two further victims are registered in list of the Junior drivers: the Italian Massimo Ceccato, who won the previous run on the stage, and the Sanmarinese Alessandro Broccoli, codriven by Simona Girelli, both who are forced to retire due to mechanical failure. Mirco Baldacci leads in the decimated list of the Super1600 youngsters and wins another stage, now counting 6 stage wins over a total of 10.

The second leg finished with Baldacci first, with a +2'09" ahead of  Meeke and the Bulgarian Dimitri Iliev at the wheel of the Auto Sport Italia's Peugeot 206 Super1600 third at 5'37". The Suzuki men Teuronen and Canellas, are fourth and fifth, and plan on the last leg to attack third position and bring home as many points as possible for the Japanese brand.

by Marco Tenuti

Report provided courtesy of PuntoPower ( www.puntopower.com ). Photo courtesy Photocris. ©2003 text: PuntoPower, image: Photocris.