Abarth crew of Rossetti and Chiarcossi wins Rally Targa Florio

The Grande Punto Abarth S2000 of Luca Rossetti and Matteo Chiarcossi won the 93rd Targa Florio, a round of the Italian Rally Championship. In Sicily, where the event was taking place, it preceded the Peugeot 207 S2000 of Paolo Andreucci/Anna Andreussi and the Skoda Fabia of Renato Travaglia/Lorenzo Granai. With this success on the roads of the Madonie region, where it had already claimed victory in 2006, the Grande Punto Abarth bolstered its competitiveness.

Thanks to this result, Rossetti climbs up to second in the standings of the Italian Rally Championship for drivers.

The works Abarth driver has set the fastest time over five of the nine special stages which were held. He found himself in the lead from the start and only lost it to Andreucci at the end of the third special stage. He then recaptured first position to keep it until the end of the rally.

Worth to be pointed out are the optimum fifth place achieved by Sicilian Totò Riolo with a private Grande Punto Abarth S2000 and the sixth position of youngster Umberto Scandola, together with Guido D’amore, who was tackling the route of the Targa Florio for the first time with the works Grande Punto Abarth S2000.

“It's my first win with the Abarth and I'm pleased to have achieved it in such a prestigious event”, said Rossetti. “We had the perfect settings for this kind of terrain where all the components of the car are important: the engine, the setup and the tyres, these ones being supplied BF Goodrich”.

Taking place at the same time as the Targa Florio, in the Rally Sata Azores Giandomenico Basso and his co-driver Mitia Dotta were forced into retirement in SS 12 after an impact. Alen enjoyed a day-long battle for fourth place with Freddy Loix, but spun on the penultimate stage and dropped 15 minutes to finish 18^th.

Classification of Rally Targa Florio (Italian Championship): 1. Rossetti-Chiarcossi (Abarth Grande Punto S2000) 1h20min05.5s; 2. Andreucci-Andreussi (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 6.1s; 3. Travaglia-Granai (Skoda Fabia S2000) + 1min31.0s; 4. Medici-De Luis (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 1min36.0s; 5. Riolo-Marin (Abarth Grande Punto S2000) + 1min45.1s; 6. Scandola-D’Amore (Abarth Grande Punto S2000) + 1min54.6s; 7. Michelini-Perna (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 2min20.7s; 8. Perico-Carrara (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 2min43.5s.

Italian Championship standings: 1. Travaglia (Abarth, Peugeot and Skoda), 28 points; 2. Rossetti (Abarth) and Andreucci (Peugeot) 18; 4. Cavallini (Peugeot) 14; 5. Michelini (Peugeot) 12; 6. Basso (Abarth) 10; 7. Signor (Abarth) 8; 8. Scandola (Abarth), Navarra (Subaru), Trentin (Peugeot) and Perico (Peugeot) 6.