Roma Capitale Stage 1: Andrea Crugnola fortissimo

Remarkably run near the Colosseum in front of a great audience, the superspecial in Rome set the tone. Author of the best time, Andrea Crugnola had made his intentions clear on Friday evening.

For the first stage, the competitors had to tackle 6 stages traced around and to the north of the thermal village of Fiuggi which hosts the rally. Located south of Rome, the area where the 102 km timed races were held suffered very high temperatures which put the cars, tires and bodies to the test.

This didn't seem to pose many problems for Crugnola and his C3 Rally2. Author of the 6 best times, he reached the parc ferme with a 20”2 margin over his first rival.

Clinging to the Italian's bumper all morning, Yoann Bonato lost contact a little due to a puncture early in the afternoon. He was also overtaken by Giandomenico Basso who is a former winner on these roads. The Frenchman remains on the podium with an interesting margin (30''7) on 4^e.

It's not about Hayden Paddon who was on course to score big points again, but who damaged his suspension in the longest stretch of the rally. After his very first mistake of the season, the New Zealander is still in the race and his chances of a good result have not vanished. In the absence of Mads Ostberg and after the barrel of Martins Sesks, Paddon could make a hole in the championship.

Having to discover the new Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 as well as the melodious voice of Andy Malfoy in his ears for the first time, Mathieu Franceschi preferred to take it to a crescendo. Only 19^e after the first special of the morning, it is now 11^e.

On the program for the second stage, the competitors will again have 6 special stages to compete, but only 85,52 km timed.

Ranking after the first stage of the Rally di Roma Capitale