Reigning champion Luca Rossetti extended his points advantage in the FIA European Rally Championship with victory in the Croatia Rally at the weekend.
The Italian driver won all four stages on the opening leg of the event in his Abarth Grande Punto S2000 on Friday and opened up a one minute lead by the end of Saturday’s running despite countryman Luca Betti claiming two fastest stage times in his Peugeot 207 S2000.
Rossetti dominated again on the final day of competition to take his total stage win tally for the event to ten, finishing 1:41 clear of Betti in second place.
Maciej Oleksowicz completed the overall podium, collecting a solid points haul that moves him to third in the standings, and also picked up a stage win in his Skoda Fabia S2000, as did Szymon Ruta, who finished fifth in his Peugeot 207 behind the Skoda of Dimitar Iliev
The Skoda of Piero Longhi was in the fight for the top three throughout the rally but retired on the penultimate stage with mechanical problems while Renato Travaglia’s title hopes suffered a blow when he pulled out with engine issues early on the first day.
Behind Ruta in fifth, Antonin Tlust’ak (Skoda) was sixth, while Niko Pulic was the best of the home drivers, finishing seventh in his Fiat Grande Punto S2000.
FIA European Rally Championship result – Round 2, Croatia Rally
Top Ten overall
1 Luca Rossetti / Matteo Chiarcossi, Abarth Grande Punto S2000, 2:21:09.1
2 Luca Betti / Maurizio Barone, Peugeot 207 S2000, +1:41.1
3 Maciej Oleksowicz / Andrzej Oleksowicz, Ford Fiesta S2000, +2:51.9
4 Dimitar Iliev / Yanaki Yanakiev, Škoda Fabia S2000, +4:24.5
5 Szymon Ruta / Sebastian Rozwadowski, Peugeot 207 S2000, +6:05.1
6 Antonin Tlust’ak / Jan Skaloud, Skoda Fabia S2000, +7:00.8
7 Niko Pulic / Bruno Santic, Fiat Grande Punto S2000, +7:05.9
8 Maciek Rzeznik / Przemyslaw Mazur, Subaru Impreza STI R4, +8:31.1
9 Rok Turk / Enej Loznar Kranjc, Peugeot 207 R3T, +13:23.6
10 Elia Bossalini / Daniele Mangiarotti, Peugeot 207 S2000, +14:39.3
Championship Standings (after 2 rounds)
1 Luca Rossetti, 85pts
2 Luca Betti, 47
3 Maciej Oleksowicz, 30
4 Renato Travaglia, 28
5 Dimitar Iliev, 25
6 Alessandro Perico, 21
7 Szymon Ruta, 12
8 Antonin Tlust’ak, 10
9 Stefano Albertini, 9
10 Piero Longhi, 7
Next round: 3-5 June, Bosphorus Rally, Turkey
Watch Croatia Rally highlights on Motors TV this Friday at 10:35pm (BST).
Andy Wilkinson
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