Tomorrow (Friday, August 31) will see the start in Udine of the 43rd Friuli and Eastern Alps Rally. This will be the eighth event in the Italian Rally Championship in which the official Abarth team of Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta hold the lead at the wheel of a Grande Punto Abarth.
On the wave of a victory in the Portuguese Madeira Rally valid for the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the official Abarth team will line up in Friuli with an advantage of four points over Paolo Andreucci (Mitsubishi Lancer) with Luca Rossetti in a Peugeot 207 nine points behind the leader. An advantage that means he still holds the lead in the Italian Rally Championship standings thanks to victories in the Mille Miglia and San Martino di Castrozza events, in addition to four second places in the San Marino, Targa Florio, Salento and San Crispino Rallies.
The second official Abarth car is the diesel-engined Grande Punto Multijet in the able hands of Davide Gatti and Maurizio Barone, which has achieved some interesting results in special speed trials in previous races.
Also participating in the Friuli and Eastern Alps Rally at the wheel of a privately entered Grande Punto Abarth is young Umberto Scandola, with Guido D'Amore as his navigator for this event.
There are many entries (fully 9 teams) in the Abarth Oro Diesel Trophy all participating with a Grande Punto Abarth Multijet. The Friuli race will be the third appointment in the mono-brand championship in which the current leader is Tiziano Nerobutto, ahead of Gianni Martellucci and up-and-coming youngsters, Alessio Pisi, winner of the Salento Rally, and Davide Di Benedetto, first at San Martino di Castrozza.
The Friuli and Eastern Alps Rally is run entirely on tarmac, divided into two legs. The first will take place on Friday, August 31, starting at 11 am and with the finish scheduled for 6.30 pm. The second leg will get underway at 10 am on Saturday, September 1, again finishing at 6.30 pm. There will be 12 special speed trials on the programme for a total of 205.88 km.
Italian Rally Drivers Championship standings (after 7 races)
1.Basso (Grande Punto Abarth) 52 points; 2. Andreucci (Mitsubishi) 48; 3. Rossetti (Peugeot) 43; 4. Cantamessa (Mitsubishi) 25; 5. Aghini (Subaru) 24
Abarth Oro Diesel Trophy standings
1. Nerobutto 16 points; 2. Martellucci 12; 3. Pisi and Di Benedetto 10
Turin, August 30, 2007
International
