ERC
Crugnola penalty leaves Basso ahead in ERC victory chase
Giandomenico Basso will take a lead of 5.1sec into the Rally di Roma Capitale Power Stage after Andrea Crugnola was handed a 20sec time penalty.
Crugnola had reached the midday service halt in Fiuggi leading his home round of the FIA European Rally Championship by 2.5sec. But after leaving the regroup behind schedule, the penalty was applied.
It means double ERC champion Basso is on course for his first victory at European level since 2021 for what would be the 21st of his ERC career.
"It’s not an easy situation,” said Basso. “Managing the gap but the guys behind are fighting hard.”
After winning SS12, Andrea Mabellini is now ahead of Miko Marczyk in what is now a battle for second place with 4.6sec separating the pair and 9.7sec covering the top three.
“I have a sauna in this car, it is incredible,” Mabellini said following his SS12 victory. “I think we did a great stage and we pushed a lot. Virgi [Lenzi, co-driver] made me feel great in the car because she had a perfect rhythm. We are really happy with the time and now one to go.”
Marczyk, who was 5.9sec slower than Mabellini, said: “It was just our pace. I was trying in some places there were better moments but in some places there was a little bit of oversteer and I had a pop off issue.”
Roberto Daprà is fourth in the overall order, while two-time Rally di Roma Capitale winner Crugnola drops to fifth.
“Nothing [I can tell you about the penalty] we just tried to drive the stage as fast as we can,” said Crugnola. “The car was moving quite a lot. We will try to collect data for the next event but we still have one more stage to go so we need to keep focussed. No [ won’t appeal the penalty].”
The 7.00-kilometre Jenne - Monastero Power Stage is due to begin at 17:05 local time.
