Roberto Daprà prophet in his homeland: with Luca Guglielmetti he wins the first career victory at the Rallye San Martino

Four races, four different winnersa Italian Rally Trophy which continues to provide endless surprises. The qualities of Roberto Dapràthen, were now known to the rally world, but the young Trentino driver on the home roads of 44th Rallye San Martino di Castrozza and Primiero, this time it left everyone speechless. The talent born in 2001 paired with Luca Guglielmetti, supported by the Automobile Club of Italy as representative of the ACI Team Italiahe has in fact conquered his first historic career victory dominating the 4th round of the TIR. (Subscribe for free to the Telegram channel of Rally Time to receive news on your phone in real time LINK)

Daprà, protagonist this year in the WRC2 and CIAR Sparco, made his debut in his home race with the Skoda Fabia RS prepared by Delta Rally with the colors of PintaRally, proving devastating from the first moments. Just half a second late in the night city show test, and then at sunrise, in Saturday’s double pass over “Gobbera”, “Val Malene” and “Manghen”, the young Italian driver didn’t miss a beat, signing two scratches and putting behind all the protagonists of the Italian series. The race organized by San Martino Corse saw the home talent take away a large haul of points from the crews fighting for the Italian Rally Trophy, among which the best emerged at the end Corrado Pinzano. The driver from Biella supported by Mauro Turati on the PA Racing Volkswagen Polo defended himself well on the approximately 100km of special stages, winning one test and remaining in pursuit of Daprà almost until the end, unique among all, despite not having found a optimal feeling; upon arrival, in management, he was 22.6 “from Daprà. In fact, the conditions of this 44th Rallye San Martino di Castrozza and Primiero were not easy to interpret, with the damp surface and the final rain which made the choice of tires a very complicated roulette wheel. In this difficult game Giuseppe Testa, leader in the Italian Rally Trophy classification, made a mistake in the morning’s compounds, losing several precious seconds. The driver from Molise, on board a Delta Rally Skoda Fabia RS shared with Gino Abatecola, in the night show test had inflamed the thousands of people crowded together in San Martino with the best time, but in the end he reached the finishing stage with a 34.7“ gap from the top. The duel between Pinzano and Testa so this time the first one wonalready winner of Marca, who thus somewhat redeemed Salento’s misfortune by nibbling 2 points in the standings.

There were serious twists and turns during the race Rossetti’s retirement-Fenoli, stopped on the PS3 “Val Malene”, and that of Pedersoli-Tomasi. The latter on Citroen Ds3 WRC on Saturday, despite the 15″ lost due to a problem in SPS1, won two races before retiring due to power steering problems. Thus he placed himself at the foot of the podium, confirming what has already been demonstrated but not achieved at Marca, Rudy Andriolo paired with Manuel Menegon, on another Czech car, who defended himself well in the battle for the 4th Zone Rally Cup, always remaining tied at the top positions; the kick that earned him the scratch on the final stage is a warning for future races. Same story too Manuel Sossella,winner of the Rallye in 2018 and champion in the CIWRC 2015, who, accompanied by Gabriele Falzone on a Fabia but in the RS version, despite a complicated first approach, then finished in 5th place overall. However, he appeared not particularly fit Simone Miele, navigated this time by Elia Ungaro, protagonist of the TIR who however did not find the ideal pace to get closer to the top duels, arriving in San Martino with sixth place. Seventh then Giacomo Pasa with Andrea Brugnaro, who confirms himself after Marca’s 5th place, followed by Giovanni Toffano and Matteo Gambasin. Finally, the top 10 positions close Sambugaro-Camerlato and the family crew Nodari.

In the ACI Sport Two Wheel Drive Cup he put on a show Matthias Targon, paired with Anna Dusi in a Renault Clio Super1600, who not only forcefully won the classification reserved for “all-forward” cars but also obtained a sensational 11th position overall, ahead of much more high-performance cars. Just under a minute from Targon, one of the classy protagonists of the Trophy, Lorenzo Grani flanked by Samanta Grossi, who nevertheless won the Rally4 class with his Peugeot 208. The ranking of ACI Sport 4WD Cup instead he saw the statement of Denis Ravanelli paired with Fabrizio Handel, in a Citroen Ds3 N5. Some particularly striking results from crews aboard cars of different classes: 22nd place Maccagnan-Madalozzo in a K10 class Citroen Saxo, the 23rd of France-Costs on a Renault Clio Rally5 and the 31st of Skin-Zampedri on a RA5H class Suzuki Swift Sport Hybrid.

ABSOLUTE RANKING 44TH RALLYE SAN MARTINO DI CASTROZZA E PRIMIERO: 1. Daprà-Guglielmetti (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) in 1:04’39.4; 2. Pinzano-Turati (Volkswagen Polo GTi R5) at 22.6; 3. Testa-Abatecola (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) at 34.7; 4. Andriolo-Menegon (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) at 40.3; 5. Sossella-Falzone (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) at 53.6; 6. Miele-Ungaro (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) at 1’33.4; 7. Pasa-Brugnaro (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo) at 2’46.8; 8. Toffano-Gambasin (Skoda Fabia Rally2) at 3’28.5; 9. Sambugaro-Cumerlato (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo) at 3’37.5; 10. Nodari-Nodari (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo) at 4’23.9

ITALIAN RALLY TROPHY RANKING | 1 Head 62.5 pts; 2 Pinzano 57 pts; 3 Pedersoli 37.5 points; 4 Honey 34.5 pts; 5 Menegatti 17 pts.

ITALIAN RALLY TROPHY CALENDAR 2024 | 22-23 March – Lazio Rally coeff. 1.5; 26-27 April – Rally della Marca; 24-25 May – Salento Rally coeff. 1.5; 14-15 June – San Martino di Castrozza and Primiero Rally; 19-20 July – Rally Lana; 30-31 August – Piancavallo Rally; 20-21 September – City of Bassano Rally; 11-12 October – Villa d’Este Trophy Aci Como (CO) coeff. 1.5.