Sanremo (Italy) - 11-12 Oct 13

Not a Rallye Sanremo to Remember for Breen

Posted: January 31, 2014 10:31 AM

After recording a sixth place finish twelve months ago and the Colin McRae award, Craig Breen was in high spirits as he set out Friday lunchtime to begin ERC Rallye Sanremo. Breen did not however get the rub of the green on this occasion as on stage four he damaged the right rear suspension of his Peugeot 207. The Irish driver had to retire at the end of the stage and was left to ‘Rally 2’ over the Saturday stages. After completing day two Craig said, “We got out today but overall I’m disappointed, luck wasn’t on our side this weekend. I know rallying is sometimes about luck and then there are times when you create your own luck. We’ve one more event this year and a big season next year so we look to the future.”

The Peugeot Rally Academy’s Craig Breen was targeting a strong finish on ERC Rallye Sanremo the penultimate round of the European Rally Championship. The Peugeot 207 S2000 driver began with some solid time of the opening stage to hold 5th position. Breen was quite emotional at the end of the opener stating, “I was worried here last year as it was my first time to be back on Italian roads since my accident in Sicily (where is former co-driver Gareth Roberts got killed) so it’s nice to drive these stages with full confidence and commitment.” Breen was not so happy by the end of stage three however reporting his tyres to be overheating and losing grip early in the stage. In spite of the tyre issue he finished the loop in 4th position just 11.7 seconds adrift of rally leader Paolo Andreucci (ITA).

The focus then turned to the highlight stage of the event ‘Ronde’. The test was originally planned to run as a 55km test to mark the 55th running of the rally but just days prior to the start the event organisers decided to split the stage in two on spectator safety grounds. Part (A) was revamped and now was 33.8km long. Early in the stage Craig’s 207 sustained damage to the right rear suspension, puncturing the tyre in the process. Craig and Lara stopped and changed to the spare and were able to drive to the end of the test. On the roadside before entering section (B) the crew tried in vain to make repairs but could not. Knowing that he was out of the rally Craig said, “I’m absolutely gutted. I really thought this was going to be my weekend but obviously not. It was too dangerous to carry on and I didn’t want to ruin everybody else’s rally if I’d stopped on part (B) of the stage and blocked the road. We will be able to ‘Rally 2’ tomorrow and all we can do is show some good speed.”

Competing on Saturday under ‘Rally 2’ rules Craig is allowed to restart but could not be listed in the final overall classification and thus not be eligible for Championship points, so effectively he was out to gain experience. There was further frustration for the Irishman as he was plagued with issues throughout the day. Firstly on the morning opener his 207 failed to fire up on the start line, eventually when it did Craig complained of a handling problem at the stage end. This was discovered to be a broken steering rack which was replaced in service. The twenty-three year old was far happier as the final loop got underway but yet again on the penultimate stage he lost his breaks and had to drive most of that test and the final stage at a controlled speed.

Craig’s final event of the ERC season will take place next month, November 07-09 on Rallye International du Valais in Switzerland and is again like Sanremo on tarmac.

BASSO CLINCHES DRAMATIC SANREMO ERC VICTORY

Posted: January 31, 2014 10:27 AM

Italian ace Giandomenico Basso has made a heroic return to the FIA European Rally Championship by winning his home event, Rallye Sanremo, which reached a dramatic climax in the hills of the picturesque Liguria region in northern Italy this afternoon.

Basso, a double European champion, has been absent from the ERC this season but secured a late deal to contest the penultimate round in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 alongside co-driver Mitia Dotta. Using Michelin’s new hard-compound PILOT Sport R30 tyre for the first time, Basso started the final stage leading Bryan Bouffier by seven seconds. But when Bouffier was forced to change a puncture, Basso took victory in Sanremo for the third time and the fourth for Peugeot’s 207 S2000.

“I’m very, very happy,” said Basso. “I came here with the intention of winning but at one point I thought it was not possible because we did not have a good feeling with the car and I suffered for this. However we made some changes in service to the dampers and that allowed the tyres to work better. When we set the fastest time on stage eight we realised winning was possible. Now I will talk to the Munaretto team to see if it’s possible to do Valais next month. I am also hoping this result will help me put together a more comprehensive programme in the ERC next year.”

Basso wasn’t the only winner this weekend: Andreas Aigner wrapped up the ERC Production Car Cup title* in his Yokohama-shod Subaru Impreza R4 STI with Zoltán Bessenyey clinching the ERC 2WD Championship* for Eurosol-Honda Civic Type R after close rival and fellow Hungarian Kornél Lukács was unable to score the points needed to keep the title fight alive.

“It’s very, very good and I’m really, really happy,” said Aigner, who was co-driven by Barbara Watzl. “I knew before the weekend this rally would be really hard but it was even harder. The car was absolutely perfect and the Yokohama tyres were working really well especially for the first time with the new pattern.”

Bessenyey, who was attending a friend’s birthday party in Hungary when he learned that he’d done enough to be champion, said: “It’s been a very good season and I’ve liked it very much. We started the year not knowing the races, the competition, the team or the car but step-by-step we have improved. It’s thanks to everyone who helped us get these results. We had a very reliable car, great team and sponsors and we were able to challenge on all the races because of this.”

While Basso celebrated his second successive victory in Sanremo, there was frustration for multiple Italian title-winner Paolo Andreucci who dropped out of a comfortable lead when he made a rare error four kilometres into Saturday’s third stage.
“I noticed before the stage there was low pressure in one tyre so we changed it but the tyre was worn,” Andreucci explained. “Then in a slippery section about four kilometres in I lost it. It was quite a straightforward place and maybe I did not pay enough attention. I hit something in the rear so we changed the left-rear tyre and that was it. Of course you make mistakes but I don’t remember making a mistake as stupid as this.”

Despite taking less than two minutes to change their punctured tyre, Bouffier and co-driver Xavier Panseri slipped to fourth in the overall standings behind Alessandro Perico and Fabrizio Carrara. Perico would have been second but for a charging effort by Esapekka Lappi on the final stage. Lappi said he “pushed like hell” in his factory ŠKODA Motorsport Fabia S2000 to clinch the runner-up spot by winning the stage alongside navigator and fellow Finn Janne Ferm. Cheered on by ŠKODA team-mate and European champion* Jan Kopecký, who was in Italy to watch the serious competition ahead, Lappi had started the final leg in sixth overall following a conservative drive on his Sanremo debut and his sixth start on asphalt.

Stefano Albertini finished fifth with Paolo Andreucci recovering to sixth having slipped outside of the top 10 at one point. Federico Gasperetti dominated the ERC Production Car Cup division in his Renault Mégane R.S. N4, finishing seventh overall in the process. Alex Vittalini won the ERC 2WD Championship category after overnight leader Simone Campedelli crashed out on Saturday’s opener. Vittalini, in a Citroën DS3 R3T, had actually slipped to second in class starting the final stage but moved back ahead when Danilo Ameglio retired. Michele Tassone finished second with Gabriele Cogni third in a Peugeot 208 R2.

Young Russian driver Vasily Gryazin fought back from a puncture to complete the top 10. Craig Breen restarted on Saturday following his exit on the first Ronde night stage and clocked several rapid stage times in his Peugeot Rally Academy entry. Team-mate Jérémi Ancian retired with engine failure on Friday’s third test.

Robert Consani returned to the action after stopping following stage one with a brake glitch on his Team Renault Sport Technologies Mégane R.S. N4. Subaru driver Toshi Arai finished third in the ERC Production Cup but Alain Pyrame went off the road on the final stage while running fourth.

Results

Posted: January 31, 2014 10:24 AM

1 Giandomenico Basso (ITA)/Mitia Dotta (ITA) Peugeot 207 Super 2000 2h37m37.3s
2 Esapekka Lappi (FIN)/Janne Ferm (FIN) ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 +1m43.0s
3 Alessandro Perico (ITA)/Fabrizo Carrara (FIN) Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m47.1s
4 Bryan Bouffier (FRA)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m52.9s
5 Stefano Albertini (ITA)/Simone Scattolin (ITA) Peugeot 207 S2000 +2m10.4s
6 Paolo Andreucci (ITA)/Anna Andreussi (ITA) Peugeot 207 S2000 +10m01.0s
7 Federico Gasperetti (ITA)/Federico Ferrari (ITA) Renault Mégane R.S. N4 +10m35.2s
8 Alex Vittalini (ITA)/Sara Tavecchio (ITA) Citroën DS3 R3T +11m40.2s
9 Michele Tassone (ITA)/Marco Rosso (ITA) Renault Clio R3 +11m48.8s
10 Vasily Gryazin (RUS)/Dmitry Chumak (RUS) Ford Fiesta S2000 +12m26.3s

ERC Production Car Cup:
Federico Gasperetti (ITA)/Federico Ferrari (ITA) Renault Mégane R.S. N4

ERC 2WD Championship:
Alex Vittalini (ITA)/Sara Tavecchio (ITA) Citroën DS3 R3T

Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy:
Bryan Bouffier (FRA)

Full Results: rally-base results | European Rally Championship (ERC) - fiaerc.com

Craig Breen Rallying ERC RALLYE SANREMO EVENT PREVIEW

Posted: October 10, 2013 4:31 PM

Even with the championship out of reach next week’s ERC Rallye Sanremo still holds a great deal of importance for Peugeot Rally Academy driver Craig Breen. After his unusual off form result in Poland, Breen will want to regain his early season speed.

Twelve months ago Breen took on the Italian event for the first time, clenching a 6th overall finish and for his driving performance in the Sainteloc Peugeot 207 S2000 was awarded the Colin McRae Flat Out Trophy.

This year it will take a feat like that and more from the Irish driver as he fights to regain second place in the championship standings, a position he has held since February but lost to fellow Peugeot driver Bryan Bouffier in Poland.

A determined Breen stated after the Poland result that there would be no stone unturned until he understood what and where the problem was last time out and to that end he has been working on reviewing the incar footage and stage times to find answers.

Craig's comments:
"I firstly want to congratulate Jan (Kopecky) on securing the championship on Rally Croatia. Jan was always going to be my main rival this season and he has had super year and richly deserves his championship win. Coming back to myself, directly after Rally Poland I dissected every piece of incar, and I think I have come to the bottom of why things didn’t go our way. I'm delighted now to have Sanremo come up next, after competing there last year it gives me the ideal opportunity to bounce back. The Championship was never our main focus this year, so as always, we aim to learn as much as we can about Sanremo, to put us in the best position possible for next season.”

Craig will be partnered again by Lara Vanneste and the Irish/Belgium crew will have their hands full trying to tame the pack of French lions on the start line. Peugeot’s 207 Super 2000 has a strong record of success on Rallye Sanremo with the car claiming a hat-trick of wins between 2009 and 2011. Paolo Andreucci, Stefano Albertini, Giandomenico Basso, Bryan Bouffier plus the Peugeot Rally Academy team-mates Jérémi Ancian and Breen are among the stars using the French machines this year.

The action gets underway on Thursday with shakedown. Friday takes in the opening four stages with the queen stage ‘Ronde’ scheduled for a 9.21pm start. Then the final remaining six stages bring’s the tarmac event to its conclusion on Saturday.

Seeded Entry List

Posted: October 5, 2013 10:49 PM

Sanremo (Italy) - 11-12 Oct 13 - SEEDED ENTRY LIST

Regulations / Details / Website

Posted: September 25, 2013 2:50 PM

San Remo