Lucio Da Zanche’s magical fifth time win at the 38th Sanremo Historic Rally

SANREMO (IM), 8 ottobre – Lucio Da Zanche allows no space. The driver from Valtellina, co-driven by Daniele De Luis in a Porsche 911 RS in the Second Grouping, claimed his fifth victory in the shadow of the Sanremo Casino (2011, 2012, 2018, 2021 and 2022) with a race tactic that cut his opponents’ legs from the start. Da Zanche, in fact, won all five special stages on Saturday, Oct. 7, that took place in the hinterland of Imperia, setting a milestone toward success with the lead in today’s morning Langan stage, Sunday, Oct. 8, and then letting loose the unleashed Brits, Martin McCormack with Barney Mitchell, at the pace notes in their powerful BMW M3.Grouping Four After the mid-race service and rest, Da Zanche cleared the situation once and for all by winning the Langan special stage that opened the second day In the following stages he administers the lead leaving the British with the best time, before closing the game on the second pass of Langan. Bajardo’s 26.96 km closes the race by again giving McCormack the best time. It was precisely the British crew that was the biggest surprise of the race, which he had never run in his life, placing immediately behind Da Zanche in the first two specials of the race, only to run into a puncture on the Colle d’Oggia that cost him 35″ (21st overall) and five positions in the standings. McCormack did not lose his nerve and already at the end of the first day he recovered fourth place, hooking up with the podium zone occupied until then by Lucky and Cunico. On the second day Mc Cormack got off to a flying start, second at Langan in the morning, then the fastest in the next three morning tests , to stay in Da Zanche’s slipstream on Langan when he had by then consolidated second place and finish in fine style by taking off the best on Bajardo.

Third overall for Franco Cunico and Gigi Pirollo who took very little time to find the feeling with their Porsche 911, keeping themselves always in the podium area, managing to overtake Lucky Battistolli mid-morning on Sunday, then keeping themselves on the podium throughout the race. The driver from Vicenza, co-driven by Fabrizia Pons, was particularly fast on the first day of the race, only to struggle on the second day of the race, but still managed to defend his position all the way to the final podium in Sanremo.

Next up were the two BMW M3s with Belgians Pieter Jan Maeyaert-Ron Schumann ahead of Germans Ron Schumann-Claudia Harloff, who preceded Sicilians Natale Mannino-Giacomo Giannone as winners of the Third Grouping in their Porsche 911 SC. The other category winners were Parisi-D’Angelo in the First Grouping, Da Zanche-De Luis in the Second and Mc-Cormack-Mitchell in the Fourth.

The podium of the Italian Historic Rally Championship race is made up by Da Zanche-De Luis, Cunico Pirollo and Lucky Pons. The Groupings went to Palmieri-Zambiasi (Porsche 911S, the First); Da Zanche-De Luis the Second; Volpato-Sordelli (Ford Escort RS), the Third and Cunico-Pirollo the Fourth.

DRIVERS QUOTES ON THE SANREMO PODIUM

Lucio DA ZANCHE (25): ” It ended in the best possible way also because from the middle of the penultimate special stage I ran with some engine problems driving with high gears to make the car flow “.

Martin MCCORMACK (4): ” A fantastic rally. Very nice and very technical stages organized in a fantastic scenery. I had a good time and, for sure, I will be here again next year “.

Gianfranco CUNICO (23): “Challenging stages that I know very well but that every time, today in particular behind the wheel of a new car, bring new surprises. I like Sanremo in the rain, I won it in ’93 under the rain, but today is a splendid day, in all respects”.

“LUCKY” (1): ” A good result for our goal which was the European Championship. And with this race we are mathematically European champions in Category 4. Congratulations to the cars and drivers who preceded us “.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER SS11 -CLASSIFICA ASSOLUTA DOPO PS11 – BAJARDO (26,96 KM) – CIRAS

OVERALL:  1. DA ZANCHE-DE LUIS (Porsche ca) in 1:32’42.7; 2. CUNICO-PIROLLO (Porsche 911 Sc) at 1’02.2; 3. ‘LUCKY’-PONS (Lancia Delta Int.16V) a 1’17.9; 4. VOLPATO-SORDELLI (Ford Escort Rs) at 3’04.9; 5. NUCERA-GABRIELLI (Porsche Carrera Rsr) at 5’04.0; 6. PAGELLA-BREA (Porsche 911 Sc) at 6’40.5; 7. MANNINO-GIANNONE (Porsche 911 Sc) at 6’44.5; 8. MARIOTTI-SANESI (Ford Sierra Rs Cosworth) at 7’15.7; 9. SALIN-PROTTA (Porsche 911 Rs) at 10’45.9; 10. BOTTAZZI-MAGNANI (Opel Corsa Gsi) a 12’00.2

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER SS11 – BAJARDO (26,96 KM) – EHRC

OVERALL: 1. DA ZANCHE-DE LUIS (Porsche Carrera Rs) in 1:32’42.7; 2. MCCORMACK-MITCHELL (Bmw M3 E30) at 46.8; 3. CUNICO-PIROLLO (Porsche 911 Sc) at 1’02.2; 4. ‘LUCKY’-PONS (Lancia Delta Int.16V) at 1’17.9; 5. MAEYAERT-DEWULF (Bmw M3 E30) at 2’28.0; 6. SCHUMANN-HARLOFF (Bmw M3 E30) at 3’59.6; 7. JENSEN-PEDERSEN (Ford Escort Rs) at 6’29.2; 8. MANNINO-GIANNONE (Porsche 911 Sc) at 6’44.5; 9. MARIOTTI-SANESI (Ford Sierra Rs Cosworth) at 7’15.7; 10. GRAHAM-GRAHAM (Bmw M3 E30) a 7’29.3