ERC4 crown means there’s still reason for Daprà delight

Daprà began his campaign with victory on Rally Serras de Fafe, Felgueiras, Boticas, Vieira do Minho e Cabeceiras de Basto in March before he took a second class win on Rally di Roma Capitale in July.

Although Norbert Maior claimed the FIA Junior ERC laurels, Daprà’s performance in northern Portugal at the start of the season – an event Maior didn’t contest – proved decisive as the 22-year-old Italian picked up a coveted FIA title for the first time. 

“Being an ERC champion is something crazy,” said Daprà, who was supported by the Italian ASN ACI’s young driver development programme. “We miss a bit for the ERC Junior Championship but it’s okay for us because we made an incredible year. We are happy for this race because we were fighting to the finish line for only a few seconds.

“I want to say thank you to all the people who are helping me this year, from ACI to my family, to my sponsors, to my mechanics, to the team, my co-driver (Luca Guglielmetti) who has always made an amazing job.

“I’m so happy for Norbert because he is a very honest and fair person and he deserves his victory.”

With Guglielmetti co-driving his Hankook-equipped Peugeot 208 Rally4, Daprà only failed to finish on one occasion when a steering issue forced his exit from Rally Islas Canarias.

While Daprà celebrated ERC4 title gold, there was disappointment for Norman Kreuter. The German had scored points on the opening seven rounds but his run ended when he retired on SS10.

*Subject to confirmation of the results by the FIA