Giandomenico Basso showed his European Rally Championship rivals why he is a two-time champion by leading Rally di Roma Capitale after leg one.
Basso (Loran SRL), who took the 2006 and 2009 ERC titles, grabbed first place when early leader and compatriot Andrea Crugnola picked up a puncture on the afternoon pass of Pico-Greci.
“Everything is okay, we are very happy and the car is okay. Now we will go in service and prepare the car for tomorrow," said Basso, who is co-driven by compatriot Lorenzo Granai.
Reigning ERC1 Junior champion Nikolay Gryazin, using the first of his two prize drives for winning the title last year, had briefly led overall before Crugnola, but locked up and went wide a few corners from the finish line of stage two. He hit a tree, causing him to retire on the spot, and will not return on Sunday due to rollcage damage sustained from the impact.
Basso's Italian title rival and fellow ERC champion alumni Luca Rossetti (FPF Sport SRL) was also in the mix for victory but a broken rim sent him straight on a right-hander, crashing out from third place.
That promoted reigning ERC champion Alexey Lukyanuk (Saintéloc Junior Team) to second after a “quite bad” start on Saturday morning, hanging on to second place despite a puncture on stage five and overheating brakes on stage six.
His ERC title battle with Łukasz Habaj (Sports Racing Technologies) took a dramatic twist on leg one’s final stage, with the Pole hitting a concrete object that forced him to pull over and retire from third place. He plans to restart on Sunday.
Despite losing around 40s on stage two with a puncture, Simone Campedelli (Orange 1 M-Sport Rally Team) was able to climb from ninth to third aboard the all-new Ford Fiesta R5, which is making its ERC debut this weekend.
ERC1 Junior Championship category leader Filip Mareš (ACCR Czech Rally Team) is now up to fourth overall. He took a steady approach after a rally-ending crash in the Czech national championship a week earlier and it paid dividends, as attrition shook up the midfield order throughout the day.
Nobert Herczig (MOL Racing Team) climbed from P10 to fifth by the end of the day, but has Chris Ingram (Toksport WRT) closing in quickly, only 1.7s behind after leg one.
ERC1 Junior points leader Ingram had a difficult morning, with brake issues on his ŠKODA Fabia R5 leaving him at the foot of the top 10. But repairs at service improved his pace, the Briton climbing to sixth overall and cementing second in ERC1 Junior.
Crugnola had initially dropped to P10 after his puncture but reached the overnight halt in Fiuggi east of Rome in seventh, aided by Rossetti and Habaj’s respective retirements.
Last year’s ERC3 Junior champion Mārtiņš Sesks (LMT Autosporta Akadēmija) – who is competing thanks to a pair of prize drives awarded by ERC promoter Eurosport Events for his title success – is also climbing the overall classification, moving up to eighth after losing nearly a minute on the first stage of the rally with front-right tyre trouble.
Hyundai Motorsport N’s two-time Rally di Roma Capitale winner Umberto Scandola lost three minutes on the final stage with a puncture and fell to ninth, although he still has nearly a minute in hand over Emma Falcón, who leads the ERC Ladies’ category and completes the top 10 overall. Hirokai Arai (STARD) is only 9.7s behind Falcón in P11 and retains fourth place in ERC1 Junior.
Dariusz Poloński (Rallytechnology) took a last-minute lead in ERC2 and Abarth Rally Cup after chief rival Andrea Nucita (Loran SRL) retired with a suspected mechanical issue. There was similar drama in ERC3 and ERC3 Junior, as Ken Torn took the lead on the final stage when Sindre Furuseth crashed out of the Pirelli-supported category.
Polonski snatches Abarth Rally Cup and ERC2 advantage late on
Dariusz Poloński took a shock late lead in the FIA European Rally Championship’s ERC2 category and the Abarth Rally Cup on Rally di Roma Capitale after title rival Andrea Nucita retired.
Nucita (Loran SRL) used his home advantage to good effect, winning the first five stages of the day aboard his Abarth 124 Rally to build a 3m49s lead in both classes.His quest for victory was helped by turbocharger and fuel pressure issues for Poloński (Rallytechnology) throughout the day, although the podium order was turned on its head late in the day.
A technical problem halted Nucita and forced him to retire, adding another dramatic twist to the title battle for the Abarth Rally Cup.“It looks like he has a technical problem with the engine because he stops. It’s a big shame for him,” said Poloński.
Nucita’s team-mate Zelindo Melegari, who has competed in ERC2 with four-wheel drive Group N machinery since 2016, switched to the Abarth Rally Cup for this weekend and is second in both classes, 55.1s behind Poloński.
“It’s good we are at the end of the first leg,” said Melegari. “We are very tired but the car is so much easy to drive compared to the Group N but I have to learn the car and some set-up.”Mshari Althefiri completes the podium places in his Group N-specification Mitsubishi Lancer. The Kuwait driver is making his asphalt debut and lost time struggling with overheating brakes on the morning loop.
Furuseth crashes out of ERC3 lead, Torn reverses Rome fortunes
A final stage crash for Sindre Furuseth on leg one of Rally di Roma Capitale handed Ken Torn the FIA ERC3 Junior Championship class lead, capping a remarkable comeback from sixth place in the Pirelli-supported category.
Despite set-up issues, Furuseth (Saintéloc Junior Team) had a lead of nearly 30s at midday service after taking two stage wins out of three, although he was nearly 10s off the pace on the re-run of Pico-Greci.
Any challenge from second-placed Grégoire Munster (ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team) disappeared on stage five when the Belgian had an off at slow speed, retiring with broken steering.
That promoted Torn (Estonian Autosport Junior Team), who had been set back by a stage one puncture, to second place, having already picked his way past Roman Schwedt (Team ROMO) and ACCR Czech Rally Team pair Jan Talaš and Erik Cais.
But an unexpected final twist came on the day's closing stage, when Furuseth slid off around two kilometres from the finish line and retired, handing Torn an unexpected 22.1s lead over fellow Ford Fiesta R2T driver Cais. “It’s quite hot in the car but it has gone better and better and I enjoy driving on Tarmac,” said Torn. “I hope tomorrow is another fighting day.”
A potentially disastrous event for Efrén Llarena (Rallye Team Spain) had also been turned around over the course of leg one, his day starting out with a puncture on Pico-Greci that cost him 1m42s and demoted him to ninth.
Over the remaining five stages he gained six places, completing the overnight podium places albeit 46.1s off Cais ahead. “At the beginning my day was bad but now I am happy because I am driving better, no mistakes. We will see,” said Llarena, who was second in the ERC3 Junior title standings behind Furuseth.
Schwedt was for a brief moment set to inherit third place but was passed by Llarena on the final stage, finishing the day 3.4s behind the Spaniard in fourth after a promising display by the German teenager.
Florian Bernardi was also picking up the pieces after a first stage delay of over two minutes, taking two ERC3 stage wins to climb from P11 to fifth, 1m33.2s behind Torn and 21.6s behind Schwedt.
Talaš had run as high as fourth place but fell back as he struggled with a clutch problem, finishing the day in sixth as he lost further time with a puncture on stage five.
Orhan Avcioğlu (Toksport WRT), who competed in the top category for R5 cars last season, is seventh, also struggling along with clutch issues in similar equipment to Talaš.
Torn’s team-mate Gregor Jeets is eighth on his first start on asphalt, with ERC3 debutant Cristiana Oprea ninth on her first ever rally in R2 machinery.
Elias Lundberg was forced to withdraw at midday service due to health reasons but hopes to return on Sunday. Pedro Antunes (FPAK Portugal Team ERC) crashed out on the morning pass of Pico-Greci while trying to avoid a rock in the line, while ERC3 Junior rookie James Williams rolled his Ford Fiesta R2T into retirement at a hairpin on stage two.
Catie Munnings (Peugeot Rally Academy) retired after stage one, a brake fire on the road section ending her day.
