Another gritty drive from
Luca Rossetti in Bulgaria saw the Abarth Grande Punto
S2000 pilot clinch victory on the final two stages of
the last day to extend his advantage at the top of the
FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) standings with
five rounds now completed.
The Rally Bulgaria has grown in stature in recent years
in a country where the sport commands huge attention and
last year's 41st edition counted towards the FIA World
Rally Championship, with Citroën pilot Sebastien Loeb
writing his name into the event's illustrious roll call
of winners.
Rossetti, who is scraping the budget together to defend
his European crown as he goes through the season, turned
up at the 42nd Rally Bulgaria behind the wheel of an
Abarth Grande Punto S2000 run by the Turkish Pegasus
Racing outfit, the Italian driver adding every bit of
his undisputed star quality to the package as he took on
a tough field led out by a clutch of fast local drivers
and his closest ERC challenger, fellow countryman Luca
Betti (Peugeot 207 S2000). The Grande Punto Rossetti
used last weekend was in fact an ex-factory example
driven by Giandomenico Basso on occasions during the
2008 and 2009 IRC seasons.
Engine problems and a
puncture put Rossetti on the back foot during the
opening day in Bulgaria, and he was 11.7 seconds off the
lead overnight, but on the final leg of the all
asphalt-surface rally he fought back in real style. The
Italian claimed the win on the last two stages where he
was faster than rally leader Bulgarian Peter Gyoshev
(Peugeot 207 S2000) who finished second. The last place
on the podium went to Betti. Gyoshev, who is ERC
registered, led for almost the entire rally and kept his
first position right until the last two stages. He had
started the final day of the rally with an advantage of
6.6 seconds ahead of Betti and 11.7 seconds ahead of
third-placed Luca Rossetti. The latter was faster though
and took the win.
During the second day of running on penultimate 'Muhovo'
stage Rossetti built a 3.4 second advantage and on the
last SS 'Slavovitsa' he gained another 3.7 seconds. In
the end Rossetti was 7.2 sec faster than Gyoshev. This
was the 18th time an Italian has won the rally.
Dimitar Iliev (Skoda
Fabia S2000) was fast during the entire rally and
dominated 7 (out of 10) stages where he posted the
quickest times. The Bulgarian however had a puncture in
SS2 which ended his dreams of taking the victory. He
eventually finished fifth right behind Jasen Popov
(Mitsubishi). Sixth was Ignat Isaev who drove for the
first time with a S2000-specification car. Seventh was
national champion and another ERC regular, Krum Donchev,
who was the second of the favorites for the win to have
a puncture in SS2. Antonin Tlust'ák (Skoda Fabia S2000)
was eighth overall ahead of Maciej Rzeznik and Szymon
Ruta who completed the Top 10.
There was more Fiat
representation down the finishing order as local crew
Ivan Ganchev and Petar Iliev (Fiat Punto Kit Car)
finished 12th overall and 2nd in the 2WD category, while
one place further back were Turkish duo Fatih Kara/Bilge
Ayan (Fiat Palio S1600). The final Italian car amongst
the 19 finishers were Italians Vergnano Giovanni and
Perino Samuele (Abarth 500 R3T).
In the European Rally
Championship standings Rossetti is now on 146 points
having claimed 39, 46, 28 and 33 points respectively
from the four rounds he has contested so far. The 33
points he picked up in Bulgaria at the weekend was 11
more than Betti collected (22 points) and that opens the
Abarth driver's cushion to 37 points with 6 rounds left
to be contested. Maciej Oleksowicz didn't start in
Bulgaria but he remains in a solid third place on 82
points while Tlust'ák who picked up 11 points stays in
fourth place on 57 points. Iliev's haul of 21 points
moves him up to fifth place on 46 points.
FIA European
Rally Championship standings (after 5 of 11 rounds):
1. Rossetti ITA (Abarth) 146; 2. Betti ITA (Peugeot)
109; 3.Oleksowicz POL (Ford) 82; 4.Tlustak CZE (Skoda)
57; 5. Iliev BGR (Skoda) 46.
