MORENO CENEDESE / MARIKA ROSSETTO
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FABIO FRISIERO / NICOLA VETTORETTI
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ADRIANO LOVISETTO / MONICA FORTUNATO
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Moreno Cenedese (Italy) collected a comfortable Group N victory on the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally d’Italia-Sardegna, which ended in Olbia this afternoon. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver led the event from the start in a dominant display of driving.
Cenedese’s fellow Mitsubishi men Fabio Frisiero (Italy) and Adriano Lovisetto (Italy) were second and third, ensuring another perfect finish and clean sweep of the podium places for the Lancer Evolution. No other cars had been able to match the Lancer for pace or reliability across the roughest of the Sardinian island gravel roads.
Cenedese was delighted with his Group N win, saying: "This has been a tough rally, but for us it’s perfect. We were a little worried yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. There was some strange noises coming from the transmission at the front of the car, but we checked it last night and there was no problem. The car was perfect it has worked very well for the whole rally.
"One of the things which has made this event tough has been the weather. No, we didn’t get a lot of rain, but the rain was always lurking there, threatening. And some times the rain which had come through the night was making the road surface softer. Some of the roads were getting quite big holes in and some big rocks were being pulled out."
Both Frisiero and Lovisetto were equally pleased with their podium places in Group N, although neither came close to the pace which Cenedese was able to find. Dutchman Peter Van Merksteyn Junior had been in the thick of the action, until his Lancer Evolution went off the road on the first loop of Friday stages.
The unseasonal weather had arrived in the Mediterranean island in time for the pre-event recce where the crews drive the roads to make their pace notes. The sunshine departed the usually warm shores of Sardinia, replaced by heavy rain. The weather failed to dim the enthusiasm of the highly-partisan and excitable Italian crowds who gathered at the side of the roads to cheer their local Mitsubishi-driving heroes on to Group N glory.
Based around the industrial town of Olbia, the event included some new stages for this season, with the organizers emphasis being placed on finding wider and faster roads. They certainly fulfilled that objective, with crews thoroughly enjoying this Italian round of the world championship. The final stage of the event was cancelled, following safety concerns for the fans who had made the trip north of Olbia for the short final blast.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is now unbeaten in the Group N category of the World Rally Championship since the start of the 2008 season. Having won in Monte Carlo, their have been victories on every surface and conceivable condition from the snow of Sweden to the searing heat of Jordan. The Lancer Evolution has been the car to beat.
At the front of the field, Sebastien Loeb (France) survived a final-day onslaught from Ford team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen (both Finland) to win Rally d’Italia. Hirvonen was second and Latvala third.
The next round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship is the Acropolis Rally (May 29-June 1).
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| 1 |
Moreno Cenedese
Marika Rossetto |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
1 |
4:30:47.9 |
**:**:**.* |
| 2 |
Fabio Frisiero
Nicola Vettoretti |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
2 |
4:32:38.5 |
1:50.6 |
| 3 |
Adriano Lovisetto
Monica Fortunato |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
3 |
4:43:04.3 |
12:16.4 |
| 4 |
Vytautas Baranauskas
Gediminas Celiestius |
LTU
LTU |
FORD FIESTA ST 150 |
N
4 |
4:46:55.5 |
16:07.6 |
| 5 |
Francesco Marrone
Sebastiano Colla |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION V |
N
5 |
4:49:16.6 |
18:28.7 |
| 6 |
Burcu Cetinkaya
Cicek Guney |
TUR
TUR |
FORD FIESTA ST 150 |
N
6 |
5:00:26.4 |
29:38.5 |
| 7 |
Giuseppe Dettori
Marco Corda |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
7 |
5:02:27.9 |
31:40.0 |
| 8 |
Koray Muratoglu
Levent Ozokutucu |
TUR
TUR |
FORD FIESTA ST 150 |
N
8 |
5:22:29.4 |
51:41.5 |
| 9 |
Raffaele Donadio
Ellana Brondolo |
I
I |
ROVER MG 105 ZR |
N
9 |
6:24:30.6 |
1:53:42.7 |
1
M |
Sebastien Loeb
Daniel Elena |
F
MC |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
1 |
3:57:17.2 |
**:**:**.* |
2
M |
Mikko Hirvonen
Jarmo Lehtinen |
FIN
FIN |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
2 |
3:57:27.8 |
0:10.6 |
3
M |
Jari-Matti Latvala
Miikka Anttila |
FIN
FIN |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
3 |
3:57:32.5 |
0:15.3 |
4
M |
Gigi Galli
Giovanni Bernacchini |
I
I |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
4 |
3:58:59.7 |
1:42.5 |
5
M |
Daniel Sordo
Marc Marti |
E
E |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
5 |
3:59:22.8 |
2:05.6 |
6
M |
Chris Atkinson
Stephane Prevot |
AUS
B |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2006 |
A
6 |
4:02:25.8 |
5:08.6 |
7
M |
Henning Solberg
Cato Menkerud |
N
N |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
7 |
4:03:18.2 |
6:01.0 |
8
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Urmo Aava
Kuldar Sikk |
EE
EE |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
8 |
4:03:38.5 |
6:21.3 |
9
M |
Per-Gunnar Andersson
Jonas Andersson |
S
S |
SUZUKI SX4 |
A
9 |
4:05:05.9 |
7:48.7 |
10
M |
Petter Solberg
Philip Mills |
N
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2006 |
A
10 |
4:06:58.2 |
9:41.0 |
11
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Mads Ostberg
Ole Unnerud |
S
N |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC |
A
11 |
4:07:09.1 |
9:51.9 |
12
M |
Matthew Wilson
Scott Martin |
GB
GB |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
12 |
4:07:14.5 |
9:57.3 |
13
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Conrad Rautenbach
David Senior |
ZW
GB |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
13 |
4:07:35.8 |
10:18.6 |
14
M |
Federico Villagra
Jorge Perez Companc |
RA
RA |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
14 |
4:08:18.5 |
11:01.3 |
15
J |
Michal Kosciuszko
Maciek Szczepaniak |
POL
POL |
SUZUKI SWIFT |
A
15 |
4:21:52.9 |
24:35.7 |
| ../ |
18
|
Moreno Cenedese
Marika Rossetto |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
1 |
4:30:47.9 |
33:30.7 |
20
|
Fabio Frisiero
Nicola Vettoretti |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
2 |
4:32:38.5 |
35:21.3 |
24
|
Adriano Lovisetto
Monica Fortunato |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
3 |
4:43:04.3 |
45:47.1 |
29
|
Francesco Marrone
Sebastiano Colla |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION V |
N
5 |
4:49:16.6 |
51:59.4 |
34
|
Giuseppe Dettori
Marco Corda |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
7 |
5:02:27.9 |
1:05:10.7 |
