ERC
Mabe is able to return to the ERC title fight
Andrea Mabellini hit back from his ERC Staff House Rally Hungary heartbreak with a strong run to fourth overall on BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia recently.
Mabellini, nicknamed Mabe, was two stages away from posting his second ERC career victory in Hungary only for damaged suspension – caused by a deflated tyre – to force him and co-driver Virigina Lenzi to retire their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
But he went a long way towards making up for that disappointment by banking 23 points for finishing fourth and posting the second fastest time on the Power Stage in Sweden.
“It was a great race, we made the maximum we could do, it was even more than we were expecting because we’ve never seen an Italian being fast on these kinds of roads,” The Racing Factory driver, 25, said. “But it seems like we are on the pace everywhere this year so we must keep the momentum and move ahead to the next round.
Fourth place marked a return to form for the Italian
© ERC
“We are not far away from the lead of the championship, I don’t know if Roope [Korhonen, the points leader] will do all the races or just the gravel races, but if he wants to come to Tarmac it’s okay for us, it’s not a problem.
“The points [in Sweden] are very important because we did not race with the best road position but we still come back so it means we were really fast in the stages and it’s nice that happened.”
Mabellini continued: “We enjoyed the race for sure, we had a great time in the car. Probably [on day one] we could do something better, different tyre choice in the afternoon as the rain came, but a lot of things happened, like the intercom problem. But, at least, we are just 20 seconds from the lead after 180 kilometres so it means it’s 0.1 per kilometre which is not so bad, it’s all okay for the moment and I would like to thank especially the team, my engineer, Pirelli, they made an amazing job this weekend.”
Up next for Mabellini and co-driver Lenzi is ORLEN OIL 81st Rally Poland from 13 - 15 June.
