SANREMO (IM), 18 October – 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. ‘Pedro’-Emanuele Baldaccini's Subaru Legacy leaves the Regrouping in Piazza Colombo, followed exactly one minute later by Lucio Da Zanche-De Luis' Porsche 911 SCRS, leaving the square in the heart of Sanremo to head towards the Imperia hinterland where they will compete in the last three special stages. The two shared the four special stages in the morning, repeating the same pattern in the afternoon stages. Vignai (SS1 and SS5) went to Da Zanche. Ghimbegna-San Romolo (SS 2 and SS6), Coldirodi-Perinaldo (SS3 and SS7) and Semoigo-Bajardo (4-8) went to “Pedro”. The two contenders, who have won ten editions of the Western Liguria race in the past, closed the first day 8.2 seconds apart, the result of a decisive sprint by Pedro in the second half of the day ( after the mid-day break they were 4 seconds apart). 'Pedro'-Baldaccini set the pace despite breaking the anti-roll bar in the afternoon stage on SS Vignai, which caused the Brescia driver to lose 7.9 seconds to the Porsche driver. Pedro then reacted, setting the fastest time in the next stage at Ghimbegna and regaining the lead at Perinaldo. ‘I want to attack from the start of the day to ensure that Aurigo-Rezzo, the longest stage of the race 18.30 km long, will not become decisive for the victory’.
Satisfied, but with the tight smile of someone who came second, Lucio Da Zanche from Bormio. "Vignai has always been the stage where I perform best. I wanted to be in Sanremo at all costs, even though I haven't competed in any races this year. So I was very rusty after a year of inactivity and, above all, with a new car that was totally different from the one I used before. And the night is not my friend. In fact, on the last Semoigo-Bajardo stage, I lost 8.3 seconds to Pedro, almost exactly the gap I have in the overall standings."
Behind them were Matteo Luise and Melissa Ferro. This was a bonus race (or a preview of future endeavours) for Matteo Luise and Melissa Ferro who, after a decade-long partnership with their Ritmo Abarth 130 (with which they won the Italian Historic Car Rally Championship Fourth Group), are trying their hand at the powerful BMW M3 for the first time. ‘I've never raced with rear-wheel drive, having switched from four-wheel drive to front-wheel drive in the Ritmo. We can't expect to compete with Pedro and Da Zanche, but we already improved significantly in the second half of the stage, reducing our gap in kilometres. We are more confident with the car and are tailoring the set-up to our needs.’ The Veneto crew trails ‘Pedro’ by 2'13‘ and is followed in the standings by Riccardo Mariotti-Giuseppe Tricoli's “’paddle’ version” Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, 3'50''3 behind.
‘The organisers assigned me starting position #4, and being fourth overall is a real joy. The race is fantastic, and so is the car.’ However, the Proracing driver must watch out for the assault of the ‘baby crew’ (47 years old altogether) formed by Mattia Perosino and Alessia Binello in a Renault Clio 16S that is ten years older than them. ‘The power steering broke halfway through the first special stage in the morning, and by the middle of the race I was exhausted from the effort of driving. Fortunately, they repaired the problem at the second service park, and my performance obviously improved.’ Perosino-Binello are fifth and have their sights set on Mariotti, whom they are chasing by just 6.2 seconds. Closing out the top six is ‘Jangher’ -Montemezzo in a BMW M3 at 3'56.9 (just 4 tenth behind Perosino-Binello, who took fifth place in the last stage of the day), followed by the first foreign crew, Jonas Tischner-Karl Joachim, who spun out in the first special stage, tearing off the bumper of their BMW M3. First among the locals was Maurizio Pagella from Sanremo, who shares the Porsche 911 with Roberto Brea, finishing in eighth place overall.
Among those who withdrew there were Federico Gasperetti and Federico Ferrari, who had brought their Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9 into fourth place overall with times worthy of the "Abetone wolf", before breaking the alternator after Ghimbegna and restarting with the Super Rally in the morning. On the same stage, Nicola Salin-Paolo Protta broke their clutch cable while leading the First Group in their Porsche 911S. The Super Rally allowed them to compete in the second stage. Elio Cortese and Ciro Lamura were forced to retire when their Subaru Impreza broke down during the first special stage, preventing the Monegasque-Ligurian crew from resuming the race. Twenty-nine of the forty crews entered in the race completed the first leg.
