Campdelli-Rappa take podium for MRF Tyres: Italian Gravel Rally
26 April 2021: Team MRF Tyres has finished on the podium at Rally Adriatico with Simone Campedelli and Gianfrancesco Rappa taking the third spot in the opening round of the Italian Rally Championship – Gravel.
The Campionato Italiano Rally Terra (CIRT) which is the Italian Rally Championship – Gravel started its season at Rally Adriatico and it was the first round of the season for Team MRF Tyres for Campedelli/Rappa, Paolo Andreucci/Francesco Pinelli and Tamara Molinaro/Piercarlo Capalongo.
For Campedelli/Rappa, it was a great start to the season. They started the nine-stage, 64.71km event with a solid run to sixth on the first stage.
They were consistent on MRF Tyres throughout the event and were able to climb their way up the order. By the end of SS4, they had taken fourth place and on SS5, they were able to climb up to third.
They would hold their podium position for the rest of the rally, managing the gap to second and to fourth in the Volkswagen Polo R5.
By the end of the rally, they finished the rally with an average pace of 89.9km/h, showing a great full-season debut for MRF Tyres in the Championship.
Unfortunately for Andreucci/Pinelli, their rally would end on SS1 with a crash putting damaging their Skoda Fabia Rally 2 Evo. Fortunately, the crew was not injured but their competitive action will have to wait until the second round.
Molinaro/Capalongo showed good pace through the rally to take second in the Under 25 age category, first in the female category and 11th overall.
Their fight would be intense throughout the rally and would climb through the field to reach the top 10 throughout the day in the CIRT. The competition was tough with tight gaps throughout the field. After a tough fight, they would finish 11th and, importantly achieve their goals of taking top spots in the Under 24 and Female categories.
This result helps prove the development process for Team MRF Tyres and the intense program that has been undertaken over the past year and that will happen throughout 2021.
The team is committed to the CIRT and the FIA European Rally Championship (FIAERC). The FIAERC is due to get underway with Rally Poland in July, with the start of the series being delayed due to Covid.
The second round of the CIRT will take place on the island of Sargenda and will coincide with the World Rally Championship round from 3-4 June.
Quotes:
Simone Campedelli: 3rd. Volkswagen Polo R5
“We tried everything. We know where we have to work now. We know where we are really competitive and where we need to do work.”
“We have started two rallies with Team MRF Tyres and now have two podiums. It is a great start.”
“I am looking forward to the next one! Thanks to the team at MRF Tyres for their hard work in getting us to this great result.”
Tamara Molinaro: 11th. Citroën C3 R5
“It was an amazing weekend at Rally Adriatico, I really enjoyed it! We finished P11 and we missed out P9 for 3.5 seconds as on the second stage of the loop we kept losing time, and we need to analyse the reasons behind it.”
“The tyres did a mega job this weekend, I felt super confident in pushing and thanks to this we were able to close the gap with the top boys so now it’s time to work even harder and maybe one day fight for a podium!! Glad Simone and Gianfranco managed to get a podium showing the potential of MRF Tyres.”
“We bring home a P6 in CIRT Championship, we lead U25 and female categories.”
Paolo Andreucci, DNF. Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo
“I regret going off the road. I’m sorry for MRF Tires, for the H Sport team and for all our partners.
“Unfortunately, immediately after a bump I lost the car and ended up in the embankment.”
“Over the course of the Shakedown we had had good times and also in the first stage, according to our splits. It is too bad because our championship starts with a DNF. Now we will have to work hard to recover the gap to our rivals
