“Citroen and Stellantis have placed their bets on me and will continue to do so. We have chosen to continue together given the relationship and the consolidated trust,” explains Andrea Crugnola ahead of the 2025 ‘Absolute Italian Rally Championship.’ For him, the package is confirmed with the Citroen C3 prepared by FPF Sport and fitted with Pirelli tires, always navigated by Pietro Ometto, with the colors of EASI.
It’s not just a question of “don’t change a winning team” for the four-time CIAR champion because the results achieved by Crugnola and the Citroen C3 have gone beyond the rhetoric of invincibility. After the extraordinary 2024 season, where the champion pocketed the fourth overall Italian title, it was not a given that everything for 2025 would remain the same, with this system bordering on perfection that launched the crew and car into the history of Italian rallying, together with the legends of the discipline. Instead, Crugnola broke the ice, once again being the first to announce his participation in the Sparco Absolute Italian Rally Championship, his fifth season aboard the Citroen C3 prepared by FPF Sport and fitted with Pirelli tyres, navigated once again by Pietro Elia Ometto with the colours of the EASI team.
Crugnola adds: “There were certainly more options available for the upcoming season, but after having made all the necessary assessments in the end I thought it was right to continue with all of them. The relationship is consolidated by the successes and results obtained, but not only that, Citroen and Stellantis have focused and will focus on me. Knowing that I can rely on this mutual trust was a fundamental part of the decision. I would have liked to try something new, of course, but I still have a long career ahead of me and we will see in the future.”
Among the cars seen last season in the fight on the hairpin bends of Italy, the Citroen C3, despite being the oldest, proved to be very competitive, also considering the recent updates.
“The car is certainly the oldest of the lot, but after last year and until the end of 2026, Stellantis will continue to develop it, Crugnola confirms. “It is the one with the least room for improvement, but it can still be perfected through our work. By now, I know it very well, and I don’t think I have any secrets to discover. Then it is clear, you never stop improving, but the feeling we have with the C3 is remarkable.”
What were his strengths in 2024? Crugnola answers: “Speed and consistency, very simple. The weak points instead were some mistakes made here and there, but if I made them it is also thanks to my opponents, who this season forced me to push harder.”
In 2025, the format of CIAR Sparco will change. What does he expect for the new season? “There are several new features, and so I’m curious to see how it will go,” he says. “Before, there wasn’t much time available between one day and the next, between one test and the next. This year, we will have to be able to dedicate more time to the fans, in support but not only. Until we try, we won’t be able to know what these changes will bring (shakedown instead of qualifying the day before the start, race divided into two days, Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday – Editor.), but I’m happy that the Federation is working on these aspects. In recent years, it has done a lot in terms of communication to give us space and media coverage. Changing the format underlines the desire to update, all things that I appreciate because they imply the desire to always improve. Finally, the race that I am always looking forward to the most is Rome.”