Roberto Daprà maintained his overnight advantage to land his maiden FIA European Rally Championship victory with a standout first-place finish on Rally di Roma Capitale on Sunday.
Leading by 20.2sec heading into Sunday’s deciding four stages, Daprà moved further out of the reach of his rivals by winning the day’s opening test for an extended lead of 25.0sec.
With his first ERC triumph all but assured, Delta Rally-run Daprà adopted a more conservative approach for the deciding three stages, which he completed with an overall margin of 13.8sec.
In the process the 25-year-old Italian, who was co-driven by compatriot Luca Guglielmetti, became the eighth Junior ERC graduate to win an ERC event outright to further underline the importance of the young driver series in developing the next generation of talent.
“Crazy, crazy, we are very happy,” said the Pirelli-equipped Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 Daprà. “It was demanding today, very, very stressful. But we managed to win. And after last week in [EKO Acropolis Rally] Greece, I think that we deserve this big emotion, and I am very, very happy.”
By finishing second – albeit by 0.5sec – in another Pirelli-supplied Fabia, Teemu Suninen moved to the top of the provisional standings by four points after three rounds with Boštjan Avbelj beating double European champion Giandomenico Basso to the final podium spot by 3.2sec.
Basso demoted Avbelj for third when his Italian-domiciled Slovenian rival spun on SS8. But Avbelj hit back to reclaim the position on the penultimate stage and almost denied Suninen second place by winning the Power Stage.
After Saturday’s action focused on untried mountainous stages northeast of Rome, Sunday’s route to the east of the city visited smoother – and cleaner – roads in more familiar territory. However, the intense heat remained a notable challenge for the ERC stars and their cars.
Hyundai-powered Arthur Pelamourgues was on course to finish fifth on his ERC debut following a fine drive. But the Michelin-equipped French rising star crashed on SS10, which left Yoann Bonato to complete the top five as the leading Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale runner.
Despite completing Friday night’s Colosseum super special in 24th place among the ERC contenders, former Junior ERC champion Mille Johansson battled back to finish sixth with Pablo Sarrazin and Andrea Mabellini seventh and eighth respectively.
Hankook-suppled Yohan Rossel and defending ERC champion Miko Marczyk rounded out the top 10.
The FIA European Rally Championship’s Tarmac tour continues in the Polish city of Katowice and surrounding countryside of the Silesia region later this month with the 82nd running of Rally Poland from 24 – 26 July.
For more information, stage times and live updates go to the new ERC Live Centre by clicking HERE.
Final standings:
1. R Daprà / L Guglielmetti ITA Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 1h 58m 2.5s
2. T Suninen / A Haapala FIN Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +13.8s
3. B Avbelj / E de Guio ITA Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +14.3s
4. G Basso / L Granai ITA Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +17.5s
5. Y Bonato / B Boulloud Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 +58.8s
6. M Johansson / J Grönvall SWE Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +1m 14.1s
