08 June 2003 - 12:35 San Marino Rally, Italy European championship coefficient 10

The 31st edition of the San Marino Rally, which was the fifth round of the Italian championship, concluded on the win of Andrea Navarra at the wheel of his Subaru Impreza WRC, in front of the Focus WRC of Giueseppe Grossi and the Group N Subaru of Piero Longhi.

Giuseppe Grossi initially led the event during the first two stages, even if Navarra was able to get the fastest time in the second stage. Grossi's lead was only 3 seconds over Navarra by then.

The battle raged between Grossi and Navarra during the next stages, the two drivers exchanging fastest times while Gianluigi Galli had to retire in SS 4 following an engine failure on his Group N Mitsubishi. Navarra was able to create a gap of 18 seconds on Grossi but a puncture in SS 6 made him lose a lot of time. Determined as ever, Andrea Navarra got the fastest times in SS 7 and SS 8, to end the day 30 seconds behind Grossi.

Around 60 competitors were still there to compete in the second leg of the rally the next day but Gianfranco Cunico was not part of that group, his Mitsubishi stayed at the service area. Navarra was in a charging mood and little by little, the Subaru driver was able to reduce his deficit on Grossi, by getting fastest times in the eight stages of the day and taking over the lead from Grossi by more than 1'42.

Third overall was Longhi, who got the win in the Group N category. In the Super 1600 class, Paolo Andreucci was the winner, in front of the Peugeot drivers Aghini and Travaglia.

Since the Italian championship is only open to the Super 1600 and Group N competitors, Andreucci is in command, in front of Longhi, Basso and Travaglia.

San Marino Rally : Final results

1 NAVARRA-FEDELI, Subaru Impreza WRC, A8, 3h00'35"9
2 GROSSI-PAVESI, Ford Focus WRC, A8,  +01'42"1
3 LONGHI-IMERITO, Subaru Impreza WRX, N4, +03'11"0
4 FIORIO-BRAMBILLA, Subaru Impreza STI, N4, +04'44"2
5 ANDREUCCI-ANDEUSSI, Fiat Punto S1600, A6, +08'27"3
6 PIANEZZOLA-ZANATTA, Mitsubishi Lancer, N4, +08'36"7
7 AGHINI-CERRAI, Peugeot 206 Super 1600, A6, +08'45"7
8 BRUSCHETTA-CIVIERO, Mitsubishi Carisma, N4, +09'06"0
9 VITA-MARI, Mitsubishi Lancer, N4, +09'22"3
10 TRAVAGLIA-ZANELLA, Peugeot 206 S1600, A6, +09'22"6
11 ZANCHI-D'ESPOSITO, Mitsubishi Lancer, N4, +10'05"4
12 CECCOLI-STEFANELLI, Fiat Punto S1600, A6, +10'47"2
13 RICCI-GUERINI, Subaru Impreza STI, N4, +11'14"8
14 DALLAVILLA-CANTON, Fiat Punto S1600, A6, +11'23"5
15 BIZZARRI-BOSI, Renault Clio S1600, A6, +11'44"1

Hugo GIGUERE
CAPSIS International