Andrea Crugnola, at the wheel of the Citroën C3 Rally2, won the Rally del Bardolino.. The event, which was staged around the Italian province of Verona on Friday and Saturday, saw Crugnola prevail on all the timed sections on the program, eight, for a total of 62km, which was also the inaugural round of the 2025 Coppa Rally di Zona 4.
Confirming the predictions, the multiple Italian champion and co-driver Andrea Sassi progressively consolidated the leadership acquired since the first special stage, finishing with a wide margin over the closest pursuer, the local Federico Bottoni.
At the steering wheel of a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, and alongside Sofia Peruzzi, Bottoni was unable to match the pace of Crugnola – and was chased to the finish line by Luca Pedersoli (in another Skoda Fabia RS Rally2). Just 0.8 seconds separated the two crews.
Just off the podium was the German Philip Geipel, with Katrin Becker on the notes, in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 (that allowed them to win the Mitropa Rally Cup 2024). They beat off a quick local driver, Rudy Andriolo, who finished fifth in a Skoda Fabia Rally2. Sixth was the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 of Alberto Dall’Era and Luca Beltrame, followed by the one brought to the race by Giovanni Costenaro and Stefano Gambasin. Skodas, in fact, found ample expression in the first ten positions of the overall ranking, which was completed – in eighth place – with the RS version of the local Roberto Righetti, flanked by Diego Rossi, and the Sardinians Antonio Dettori and Marco Demontis in ninth overall. Tenth, the Skoda Fabia Rally2 of Ezio Soppa and Mauro Marchiori, with the driver who finished second in the Over 55 category, behind the winner Roberto Righetti.
The Renault Clio Rally3 of Leonardo Scalco and Debora Fancoli took the lead in the RC3N class, the Peugeot 208 Rally4 of the Estonians Mark Tiits and Rainis Raidma in the RC4N class, while, in the RC5N class, the fastest car was the Renault Clio Rally5 of the local Michele Falezza, flanked by Giulia Tomasi.
In the historic category, the winners were Franco Panato and Alberto Albieri, in a BMW M3 of the 4th Group, and in second position were Giulio Guglielmi and Davide Marcolini, in a Porsche 911 SC of the 3rd Group. Third was the Opel Kadett GTE of Giuseppe Bottoni and Elisabetta Sansone, a crew that concluded by taking second place in the 3rd Group. The winners of the 2nd Group were Fabio Soldà and Massimo Fracasso, on a Porsche Carrera RS while, representing the 1st Group at the finish, was the MG MGB of Alberto Mondinelli and Valerio Zaini.
Overall Rally del Bardolino Results
01: A Crugnola/A. Sassi (Citroën C3 Rally2) – 34m 48.3s
02: F. Bottoni/S. Perusia (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 55.8s
03: L. Pedersoli/A. Tomasi (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 56.6s
04: P. Geipel/K. Becker (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) + 57.6s
05: R. Andiolo/M. Menegon (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) + 1m 09.7s
06: A. Dall’Era/L. Beltrame (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1m 24.1s
07: G. Costenaro/M. Gambasin (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1m 42.3s
08: R. Righetti/D. Rossi (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 1m 58.3s
09: A. Dettori/M. Demontis (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 2m 44.2s
10: E. Soppa/M. Marchiori (Škoda Fabia R5) + 3m 33.4s