40th Sanremo Historic Rally. Poker for Pedro

A thrilling finale brings this edition of the historic race to a close, giving the driver from Brescia his fifth victory and overturning the overall standings in the very last special stage.

SANREMO (IM), 18 ottobre – A rally? No, a tennis match! That’s what the second day of the 40th Sanremo Historic Rally seemed like, ending in the evening at Pian di Nave next to the Fort of Santa Tecla in Sanremo. The competitors left Piazza Colombo this morning with Pedro-Baldaccini, Subaru Legacy, in the lead with 8.2 seconds ahead of Da Zanche-De Luis, Porsche 911 SCRS. But already in the first special stage there was a decisive turnaround with Pedro in trouble on the extremely slippery road of Carpasio-Ville San Pietro, where the Brescia driver lost 19.5 seconds to the Porsche driver. This was confirmed in the following Cesio-Caravonica stage, although De Zanche managed to increase his lead by only another 4 tenth, bringing the gap to 11.7 seconds. After regrouping at Calata Anselmi, where they rearranged their ideas, the competitors returned to the Imperia hinterland to tackle Aurigo-Rezzo, which at 18,300 metres is the longest stage of the rally. Pedro and Baldaccini achieved their masterpiece by setting the fastest time overall, leaving Da Zanche 16.5 seconds behind on the last stage and finishing with a total lead of 4.8 seconds.

In the third place were Matteo Luise and Melissa Ferro, who finished 2’51″5 behind Pedro in their BMW M3 after a superb race that allowed them to familiarise themselves with the German car they were using for the first time, falling in love with it to such an extent that it will probably become their main weapon for next season. Having resolved their power steering issues, Mattia Perosino and Alessia Binello, the youngest crew in the race, flew their Renault Clio 16S to fourth place overall, 4’53” behind, defending themselves from the comeback of Germans Jonas Tischner and Karl Joachim, fifth overall and first among the foreigners in their BMW M3, thanks to an excellent recovery in the second stage after a minor collision that had damaged the rear bumper of the Stuttgart car yesterday morning. Riccardo Mariotti and Giuseppe Tricoli were unable to maintain the fourth place they had started with this morning, finishing a satisfying sixth overall, ahead of the first Ligurian crew, Maurizio Pagella and Roberto Brea from Sanremo, seventh overall in their Porsche 911. The French pair Salmon-Burlot, in an Opel Ascona, finished eighth overall and won the Third Group of the race, Olivieri-Ambrogi, in a Ford Escort RS, won the Second Group, and Parisi-D’Angelo won the First Group, while the Fourth Group went to the overall winners Pedro-Baldaccini.

Final results: 1) Pedro-Emanuele Baldaccini (Subaru Legacy) in 1.31’15”4; 2) Lucio Da Zanche-Daniele De Luis (Porsche 911 SCRS) at 4”8; 3) Matteo Luise-Melissa Ferro (BMW M3) at 2’51”5.