Neuville and Breen shine at Sanremo

Thierry Neuville and Martin Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 Coupe) pocketed the WRC standings at Sanremo while Craig Breen and Paul Nagle (Hyundai i20 R5) regained victory in the Italian Championship.

Published on 12/04/2021 à 08:58

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The attraction of the 68th Rally Sanremo was undoubtedly the presence of the four Hyundai i20 coupe WRC de Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak, Pierre-Louis Loubet and “Pedro”. In a classification separate from that of Rally2, it is the Belgian who was the fastest during the Italian weekend, winning with 3″9 ahead of the Estonian.

In the ranking counting for the Italian Championship, it was another Hyundai, i20 R5, which won with an official result arriving late last night.

A time penalized during the last time check, Craig Breen, assisted by Paul Nagle, had seen Andrea Crugnola (Hyundai i20 R5) win but the event stewards decided to cancel all the penalties inflicted on this final CH, due to traffic jams on Via Nino Bixio.

In fact, early scores were authorized, mechanically removing the sanction from Breen and all other competitors concerned. Breen won in the end with a margin of 4″7 over Crugnola and 12″8 over Fabio Andolfi (Skoda Fabia R5). Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën C3 Rally2) ranks 7th.

Among the participants in the French Asphalt Rally Championship, Eric Mauffrey (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) finished 17th, while Pierre Roché (Citroën C3 Rally2) climbed to 20th position just ahead of Quentin Gilbert (Ford Fiesta Rally2).