With a doubled number of crews compared to the previous edition, the 3rd Costa del Gargano Rally, newly promoted to the ACI Sport Zone 8 Cup, started at 5.30pm yesterday, Saturday 27 April, from the tourist port of Manfredonia (FG).
There are fifty-two participants in the competition, organized by Gargano and Tecno Motor Racing Team with the patronage of the Puglia Region, Department of Sport and Health, ACI and Province of Foggia, Gargano Park and the Municipalities of Manfredonia, Mattinata and Monte Sant’Angelo, which represents the second of the seven events on the discipline’s sporting calendar which began last month with the Lazio Rally.
At the start of the Apulian race directed by Claudio D’Apote, the Venetian Stefano Zambon together with his trusted navigator Gabriele Romei presents himself as number 1 on board the Citroen C3 WRC Plus of Team Easi, former official car of the world rally championship. With number 2 on the side of the Skoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 of the Colombi team for New Jolly Motors there will be the multiple CRZ champion and winner of the first two editions of the Costa Giuseppe Bergantino, the “Super Berga” darling of Manfredonia will be driven to the tunes by Mirko By Vincenzo.
Same car in Evo version for the standard bearer of the organizing team Francesco Troiano navigated by the Piedmontese Elena Giovenale and for the Milanese of Apulian origins Vincenzo Tortorici (Scuderia Palladio) with the Vicenza native Fabio Andrian.
High-sounding names appear on the other four Skoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 participants starting from the consolidated couple made up of Gianluca D’Alto from Campania and Mirko Liburdi from Lazio, up to the vice president of the Gargano Rally Team Pietro Azzarone, with Fiore Iscaro, to the members of the board Vincenzo Troiano and Daniele Decembrino, Emanuele Giannetti with Felice Pizzuti, up to Maurizio Di Gesù with Cristian Quarta and from Sicily the president of RO Racing Rosario Montalbano assisted by Giuseppe Livecchi.
The strong Salento partnership of Francesco Rizzello and Fernando Sorano (Salento Motori) will be on the Hyundai i20 RC2N, while for the Scorrano Motorsport colors Mauro Santantonio and Cosimo Cataldi will attempt to climb to the podium on the Peugeot 208 RC2N. In S2000 it is a solitary challenge for the local Libero Masulli with Francesco Simone on the Peugeot 207.
lining up for the Casarano Rally Team are the expert Claudio D’Amico navigated by Angela Moffa from Molise on the legendary Delta HF, Giorgio Liguori and Mattia Nicastri on the Renault Clio RC4N R3. The other two Gargano Racing Team crews Marco Dell’Elce/Azzurra Mergiotti and Libero Bisceglia/Alessandro Grilli compete on the same brogue but in 3N S 1600. Also standing out are the two Toyota Yaris RC3N Ro Racing, competing for the GR Italia single-brand championship, owned by Davide Maglione from Lucania, navigated by Alfredo Tarquinio, and Matteo Aquilano from Foggia supported by Federica Del Sordo.
There are five Rally 4 class cars, in which among others are the local Francesco Lauriola with Massimo Sansone on a Peugeot 208 and the president of the Piloti Sipontini team Bartolomeo Solitro, flanked by Rosario Navarra on a Renault Clio, four 2-wheel drive vehicles with traction front and the same number in class A7, in R5 N2 and N3. The only woman in the role of presenter is the Under 25 bell Erika D’Agostino, with her father Pasquale dictating her notes on the Peugeot 106 Rallye RC5N A5.
The “Costa 2024” will take place in 10 Special Stages along a route of 72.2 km of timed sections and 303.88 kilometers in total including transfers. The competition program will open on Saturday 27 April with the technical-sporting checks, followed by the shakedown in the race set-up car on a stretch of the PS Mattinata, from 10am to 2pm.
The starting point, at 5.30 pm, and the arrival location, on Sunday 28 April at 6.18 pm, will be the area of the tourist port of Manfredonia while the assistance has been located in the nearby Gargano shopping centre.
The special tests: Macchia-Monte Sant’Angelo (Troiano Petroli) to be repeated twice on Saturday, once during the day and once at night, at 6.22pm and 8.57pm with regroupings set for 6.38pm in Piazza della Beneficenza in Monte Sant’Angelo and at 9.55pm at the tourist port of Manfredonia. The other eight special stages will take place on Sunday: the PS Mattinata – Tecnoedil to be repeated three times with passages of the first car set at 10.04, 14.17 and 17.10, the PS Carbonara – Automania (10.20, 14.33 and 17.26) and Carbonara – Tegliafilo (10.48 and 15.01).
The map of the routes, available here
https://app-cdn.sportity.com/f985422e-2132-4fd1-bb78-a9556a629ea9/df14152b-e6f9-4e07-96b9-1efeb36c021f_Generale_r.pdf
the rankings and all the information on the race are available on the official website www.rallycostadelgargano.it and on the social pages of the event.
PHOTOGALLERY ARCANGELO PALUMBO
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