BALDACCI STARTS A COMEBACK

Mirco Baldacci and Giovanni Bernacchini at the wheel of a Fiat Punto Abarth started a comeback in the second leg, with excellent performances in special sections, and especially their second best time in the last, difficult time trial run under floodlights.
They've moved up from eleventh to ninth place, pulling back almost 30" on the leader (Finnish driver, Katajamaki) and again demonstrating just how competitive the Fiat Punto really is, above all in the longer, more demanding special sections. Despite yesterday's puncture and penalty the two Fiat drivers didn't lose heart and today were the absolute stars of the race.
Tomorrow (Sunday, January 23), the third and final leg with six special sections totalling 115 km of time trials. The start is at 6.50 a.m. with the finish scheduled for 2.30 p.m.. All eyes will be focused on the two transits at the Col de Turini, always considered to be the high point of this race. For Italian fans this is a chance to cheer on the official Fiat team over a section of road that has traditionally seen Italian cars perform well.


Turin, January 22, 2005

Standings after the second leg of the Junior World Championship: 1. Katajamaki-Alanne (Suzuki) in 3 hours 05'54.5"; 2. Meeke-Patterson (Citroen) + 13.3"; 3. Scorcioni-Stefanelli (Suzuki) + 1'39.6"; 4. Cecchettini-Daddoveri (Renault) + 2'19.9"; 5. Betti-Agnese (Renault) + 2'52.5"; 6. Sordo-Marti (Citroen) + 3'13.8"; 7. Valousek-Scalvini (Suzuki) + 3'53.3"; 8. Prokop-Gross (Suzuki) + 5'22.6"; 9. Baldacci-Bernacchini (Fiat) + 12'36.8".

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