ERC’s Franceschi waves a fond farewell to his fast Fabia

The Frenchman, who finished seventh on BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia earlier this month alongside co-driver Jules Escartefugue, is switching to Škoda’s latest-generation Fabia RS Rally2 from Rally di Roma Capitale onwards.

Having tested his new AMD Motorsport-run car on asphalt prior to Sweden’s gravel-based contest, Franceschi said: “For sure I’m excited to discover more this car because I only test for one day. For Roma we will have another one day of testing and for me there’s big potential. But I need to find the feeling and to discover everything because it’s completely different between this and the new car. Let’s see but for sure I am excited.”

Franceschi, 24, used his outgoing Fabia to lift the 2022 French gravel title as well as claiming victory on all 10 events he contested. He also used the car on the opening five rounds of the 2023 ERC season and recovered from this spectacular moment on the opening leg in Sweden (see photo above).

“I drove this car since the beginning of last year and I won all the races in the French championship and the title as well so it’s a special car,” Franceschi said. “It’s cool to finish the story on the Colin’s Crest stage, now I just hope to keep the car in the garage, but for this I need to ask my boss.”

The all-asphalt Rally di Roma Capitale hosts round six of the 70th-anniversary ERC season from 28 - 30 July.