Roberto Vescovi and Giancarla Guzzi
made it three wins out of three rounds of the inaugural
Trofeo Abarth 500 Rally, the brand new
"grassroots" stage series contested by the low-cost
Abarth 500 R3T, on the 44th Rally del Salento at the
weekend. However the Emiliano crew found themselves
faced with much tougher opposition this time in the
shape of Andrea Nucita and Domenico Salvo and were made
to fight all the way to the chequered flag for their
third straight victory.
The 44th Rally del Salento, which
was the third round of the Italian Rally Championship,
for the protagonists of the new Scorpion-organised
series kicked off with the 4.66 km "superspecial stage"
on the "La Conca" kart track and it was Nucita who drew
first blood, the youngster going 1.5 seconds clear of
another Under-23 category contesting crew, Giacomo
Costenaro and Christian Dinale, while a further 3.8
seconds adrift were Giovanni Vergnano and Stefano Perino
who thus moved into a provisional third place in the
Trofeo positions on this gravel surface event. Vescovi meanwhile
suffered a spin on the showcase spectator packed stage
and finished 8.5 seconds off Nucita. However Vescovi
then halved the deficit to Nucita by going fastest of
the seven Abarth 500 R3T runners on SS2 and on the next
test he was the quickest of the Trofeo runners
again and closed the difference to the leader down to
just 0.1 seconds.
On SS4 Vescovi squeezed past his
rival and into the lead, and, despite the best efforts
of Nucita to keep the fight alive, he was able to clinch
the third round of the series by 14.8 seconds, his third
straight win, to open up a useful 8 point advantage over
Costenaro who claimed the final podium position more
than two minutes behind Nucita who in turn clinched
second place to hold advantage at the top of the
Under-23 and Under-25 categories. Vescovi also finished
thirtieth overall on the rally out of fifty-two
finishers.
Pierluigi Maurino and Cinzia
Becchis from Piedmont were fourth, 5 minutes and 36
seconds off Vescovi but more than seven minutes clear of
Vergnano who rounded out the top-five and to hold fourth place in the overall championship
at this point. The final
crew to reach the finish and be classified were Pietro Cinotto and Daniele Michi
who safely took the chequered flag despite several off road
moments. Lorenzo Bertelli and Luciano Finzi were the
only Trofeo crew not too be classified as they
retired on SS5, however taking advantage of the
Superally rule the pair returned to the fray on SS6 and
continued posting times right to the end of the rally.
The next rally set to count towards the inaugural
Trofeo 500 Abarth Rally will be the Rally San
Martino di Castrozza which is scheduled to take place
next month, July 16-17.
44th Rally del Salento, Trofeo
Abarth 500 Rally, Final Classification: 1.
Vescovi-Guzzi in 1 hour 40’56”1, 2. Nucita-Princiotto +
14”8; 3. Costenaro-Dinale + 2’18”5; 4. Maurino-Becchis +
5’36”2; 5. Vergnano-Perino + 12’50”2; 6. Cinotto-Michi a
15’20”2.
Trofeo Abarth 500 Rally, Championship positions
(after 3 rounds) - Overall: 1. Vescovi punti 30; 2.
Costenaro 22; 3. Maurino 17; 4. Vergnano 13; 5. Nucita
and Cinotto 8; Under 25: 1. Costenaro 28; 2.
Cinotto 14; 3. Nucita 10; Under 23: 1. Costenaro
28; 2. Nucita 10.
