14 April 2003 - 21:26 Mission Imposible… Accomplished... Italy : Mille Migilia - Finish

Miguel Campos, Peugeot 206 WRC, won the 27th Rally Mille Miglia… and became the first non-Italian ever to win the event…and he did it against all the odds. This was also the first round of the 2003 European Rally Championships, and the 200 points he collected gives him a perfect start to the competition.

Not many people would have given him much of a chance after he picked up a 3 minute time penalty on the opening Super Special stage after making a mistake and only driving 2 of the 3 laps. It was his first rally in Italy, but you would hardly have noticed that as he set a string of fastest times in the hills to the west of Lake Garda….a day which saw his main rival for the European Championships, Bruno Thiry from Belgium, retire from the rally with a broken propshaft.

By the end of the second day he was in 4th place overall, just 52.3 secs. behind the leader, local driver Luca Pedersoli, who was having his first drive in Renato Travaglia's old Peugeot 306 Maxi.On the first stage of the final day, Campos slid on a bend, glanced off a guard rail, damaged his bumper, picked up a puncture and lost 28 seconds. Undetered he reeled off a string of 4 fastest times…despite damaging his propshaft on Stage 14. They changed it at the final main service of the day and with just 3 stages remaining, he trailed Pedersoli by just 17.2 secs.

The gap narrowed still further to just 6 seconds as Campos won Stage 16 and then he finally took the lead on the penultimate stage by 0.5 second. For Pedersoli, he was giving his all…his motto being..its not over til its over, but Campos cemented his victory winning the final stage by 21.9”… Pedersoli took a well deserved 2nd place. Piero Longhi in his Subaru Impreza, took overall 4rd place and won Gr.N….Franco Cunico was 5th overall and second in this class with Gianluigi Galli 3rd. Giandomenico Basso took the lead in the Super 1600 class on the 17th stage when Renato Travaglia punctured and lost over a minute but Travaglia held on the second spot with team mate Andrea Aghini finishing third.

Rally Mille Miglia : Final results

1  CAMPOS - DE MAGALHAES  PEUGEOT 206 WRC    A8   3h35'49"7
2  PEDERSOLI – VERNUCCIO  PEUGEOT 306 MAXI   A7       +22"4
3  BASSO – MELEGARI       FIAT PUNTO S1600   A6     +2'31"1
4  LONGHI – BAGGIO        SUBARU IMPREZA     N4     +2'34"7
5  CUNICO – PIROLLO       MITSUBISHI LANCER  N4     +3'24"3
6  TRAVAGLIA – ZANELLA    PEUGEOT 206 S1600  A6     +3'25"1
7  AGHINI – ROGGIA        PEUGEOT 206 S1600  A6     +3'38"4
8  ANDREUCCI - ANDREUSSI  FIAT PUNTO S1600   A6     +4'57"1
9  GALLI - D'AMORE        MITSUBISHI LANCER  N4     +5'47"2
10 CANTAMESSA – CAPOLONGO RENAULT CLIO       A6     +7'22"6
11 SCORCIONI – DADDOVERI  FIAT PUNTO         A6     +7'26"9
12 PINTARELLI – MARCHIORI RENAULT CLIO       A7     +9'38"8
13 FIORIO – CANTONI       SUBARU IMPREZA     N4     +9'43"9
14 BALDO – FERRARI        RENAULT CLIO       A7    +12'07"1
15 VANWOENSEL – SNAET     MITSUBISHI LANCER  N4    +12'31"9

Press officer - European Rally Championships
06.04.2003