ERC – Italian star Crugnola clinches second Roma victory
Home hero Andrea Crugnola is a two-time winner in the FIA European Rally Championship after he claimed victory on Rally di Roma Capitale by 22.3sec.
With Pietro Ometto co-driving his Citroën C3 Rally2, Pirelli-equipped Crugnola repeated his breakthrough Rally di Roma Capitale triumph of 12 months ago on the back of a faultless performance in the scorching Italian sunshine.
Despite an intercom issue, Simone Campedelli finished second driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 on Pirelli tyres with Efrén Llarena third on his first outing in a Michelin-shod Fabia RS Rally2, the Spaniard’s first ERC podium since May 2023.
But it was close as 9.1sec separated the top six after Sunday’s opening stage, while Simone Tempestini finished 4.2sec behind Llarena in fourth and equal on time with fifth-placed Mathieu Franceschi.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Crugnola, who won the Power Stage for good measure. “It was very tough to control the race because I was thinking a lot to the Italian championship and this race can be crucial for the future. We score very good points and I would like to say thanks to Pietro, because he did an amazing job, and to the team, F.P.F. Sport, Pirelli, Sparco, all the sponsors and all the people who are close to us and helping us to be here.
“We increased the lead this morning, which was our goal, we had some margin in some places which also gave us some more confidence for the last loop. We could improve the set-up but we needed to stay focused.”
Crugnola left the overnight halt in Fiuggi leading by 0.7sec and edged a further 0.1sec ahead with the second fastest time through SS8.
With SS9 red-flagged following an accident for Mads Østberg (see below), the 35-year-old had to wait until SS10 to make further progress and he was in front by 11.0sec at midday service.
He grew his advantage to 12.6sec by winning SS11 before he went into overdrive on SS12, going a 7.0sec faster than his closest challenger to take a lead of 20.4sec into the Power Stage.
“For sure we pushed quite hard but I was really happy with my Citroën and my Pirelli tyres,” Crugnola said of his charge through SS12, a stage he first tackled in 2018. “The weather is so hot, but I could push from the beginning and manage the gap.”
Although he missed out on a podium, Tempestini’s capture of fourth place on his first outing on asphalt aboard his Michelin-equipped Fabia RS Rally2 represented a strong result for the multiple Romanian title winner.
Behind Franceschi, defending ERC champion Hayden Paddon completed the top six aboard his Pirelli-shod Hyundai i20 N Rally2 to maintain his narrow title advantage over Franceschi. “We were trying to keep it tidy, doing the best we can but we don’t have any answer,” the BRC Racing Team driver said. “That’s just the way it is at the moment, we’re fighting over the small positions.”
Boštjan Avbelj, who was fastest on SS2, scored his first ERC points in seventh with Roberto Daprà initially eighth on his first ERC start in a Rally2 car after winning the ERC4 title in 2023, before a time penalty dropped him to 12th.
Double ERC champion Giandomenico Basso inherited eighth with Andrea Mabellini moving up to ninth for Team MRF Tyres followed by Simon Wagner, who recently clinched his fourth Austrian title. Miko Marczyk, the demoted Daprà, Hungarian champion Ferenc Vincze and Giacomo Scattolon were next up.
A damaged front-left tyre one kilometre after the start of SS10 dropped Filip Mareš out of the top 15 but the Hankook-equipped Toyota driver fought back to round out the points-paying positions in 15th.
Erik Cais was 13th with one stage to go but an off into a wall on the Power Stage left his Fabia RS Rally2 with damaged steering and he dropped back as Jon Armstrong finished 16th in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Making his Rally di Roma Capitale debut, Mads Østberg was in ninth place after eight stages when he crashed heavily 21.8 kilometres from the start of SS9. The TRT Rally Team crew were able to walk to a waiting ambulance and were taken to hospital for medical checks.
Filip Kohn was a comfortable winner in the FIA ERC3 category at the wheel of his Pirelli-equipped Ford Fiesta Rally, while Giorgio Cogni drove his Peugeot 208 Rally4 to the FIA ERC4 victory, also on Pirelli tyres.
The chase for FIA European Rally Championship title glory continues on the all-asphalt Barum Czech Rally Zlín from 16 – 18 August.