The second leg in the Rallye du Valais, the eighth event in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, gave Umberto Scandola an opportunity to confirm the good impression he had made in the short opening fraction of the race. He and his Abarth Grande Punto Super2000 were the ones to watch, and he held on to third place; at the end of an intense day he had one foot on the podium at the Swiss race. Scandola was constantly among the leaders, overcoming the many pitfalls of a particularly selective route and, in spite of a worrying oil leak which forced the Italian team mechanics to change the gearbox-differential unit manufactured by the French company Sadev, he maintained the rhythm set by Nicolas Vouilloz.
Freddy Loix also did well, taking fourth place in front of Andrea Navarra, sixth and the last of the group of cars from Turin.
Claudio Berro, head of Abarth racing activities commented: “Umberto Scandola has shown that he knows how to be fast even on these roads, and he has demonstrated an uncommon maturity for a driver in his early twenties, underlining the potential of the Grande Punto. Freddy Loix helped to make the day even more positive for us, by being constantly in contention, but above all it is the reliability of the Grande Punto, with three of them in the first six positions, that enables us to look to the future with confidence.”
Tomorrow, Saturday 27, will see the third and final leg. There are another seven speed trials programmed, including a repeat of the spectacular Caserns trial, which always attracts thousands of spectators.
Alessio Pisi from Liguria leads the Abarth Oro Diesel Trophy, ahead of Tiziano Nerobutto from Trento.
Turin, October 26, 2007
International
