BRC on podium in Rally San Marino

Like in the previous rounds of the Italian championship rally series, the battle for podium was fought entirely between three drivers: Umberto Scandola in a Skoda Fabia S2000, Paolo Andreucci in a Peugeot 208 R5 and Giandomenico Basso in an LPG-powered Ford Fiesta R5. The latter car's engine is a monofuel unit, supplied with autogas through a BRC LDI direct liquid state LPG injection system. The BRC livery-wearing Fiesta has been proving that an autogas rally car can be a serious contender since the beginning of the season.

© BRCPodium of the 2014 Rally San Marino: 1 - Paolo Andreucci/Anna Andreussi, 2 - Umberto Scandola/Guido D'Amore, 3 - Giandomenico Basso/Mitia Dotta

The four special stages held on day one were split between Andreucci and Basso in terms of victories taken, but Umberto Scandola – current Italian rally champion – was actually the fastest driver of the day. Scandola was almost disqualified for using excessively worn tires, but as Skoda Italia threatened to file a complaint, the driver avoided being penalised. After day one and its 4 special stages, the overall time difference between the first and third driver was as little as 7,8 s, with Scandola in the lead and Andreucci and Basso following.

On day two, Basso decided to take no chances and drive steadily to defend his third position without openly attacking his rivals. Even his coming third meant he would earn enough points to strengthen BRC Racing Team's firm second place in the Italian Rally Championships' team standings. Overall victory was claimed by Paolo Andreucci (and co-driver Anna Andreussi). Umberto Scandola, leader of the drivers standings, came second with a 3 s loss and Giandomenico Basso (with co-driver Mitia Dotta, new for the 2014 season) achieved his goal of finishing third.

42^nd Rally San Marino overall standings:

1. Paolo Andreucci/Anna Andreussi (Peugeot 208 T16 R5): 1:38'10.9;
2. Umberto Scandola/Guido D'Amore (Skoda Fabia S2000): + 3.0;
3. Giandomenico Basso/Mitia Dotta (Ford Fiesta R5 LDI): + 1'12.0.

Italian Rally Championships (CIR – Campionato Italiano Rally) general standings:

1. Umberto Scandola (59);
2. Giandomenico Basso (52);
3. Paolo Andreucci (50).