IRC Rally San Remo

Rally Review: IRC Rally San Remo

by Martijn Kösters


The penultimate round of the final IRC season took place around the Italian city of San Remo. One man was absent: Andreas Mikkelsen, giving title rivals Jan Kopecký and Juho Hänninen a chance to gain some points on the reigning champion before the season final in Cyprus. Though they would get a run for their money as a strong field of Italian drivers was present. Amongst them former winner Giandomenico Basso and Italian Rally Champion Umberto Scandola. Prior to this round Andreas Mikkelsen lead the championship by 43 points over Juho Hänninen and 53 over Jan Kopecký. With only 75 points left in the championship a good result was crucial for both Skoda drivers.

The Rally San Remo uses an interesting format, a total of ten stages is driven within a 24-hour time window, making any mistakes even more costly. This also means drivers have to be careful with their machines, as service opportunities are rare.

Giandomenico Basso was fast in the opening stage, taking the lead by a good 4 seconds over Andreucci, Kopecký and Perico. Stage two saw Jan Kopecký put in the fastest time and climb into second. Further Umberto Scandola had a terrible round of luck with a puncture and a spin, costing him five and a half minutes. He would retire after the stage. Basso increased his lead on stage three when Kopecký gave away seven seconds. Going into service Basso lead, 12.7 seconds ahead of Jan Kopecký, Andreucci in third, 14.2 seconds behind. Juho Hänninen was in fourth, only 14.4 seconds behind Basso.

A possible decider could be the 44 kilometer Ronde stage, driven on Friday night. Basso and Kopecký were superior on this stage and gaining over half a minute on the rest of the field. Though Basso was best of the best as he gained another twelve seconds on Kopecký. Paolo Andreucci took it easy, since his Italian title would only depend on him finishing. Interesting moment on the stage was Juho Hänninen's crash. He went straight of the road in a left hand corner, rolled his car and ended up on the roof of a shed, turning his Skoda into a wonderful roof ornament. Unfortunately for his championship, he had to retire.

Day two seemed more about everyone consolidating their positions. Giandomenico Basso increased his lead on Kopecký to 52 seconds over the first loop of the Saturday. Perico remained in third, Albertini 4^th, Andreucci 5^th. Craig Breen dropped some time after picking up a puncture on SS7, he is in a distant 6^th. Kopecký did try to launch an attack on Basso later on Saturday, taking the fastest time on SS8, SS9 and SS10. Unfortunately the gap was still 37.7 seconds going into the final stage.

Despite several drivers trying, the second loop on Saturday did not result in any position changes at the top of the table, Giandomenico Basso took his second Rally San Remo win with Jan Kopecký second, Perico third, Albertini 4^th, Andreucci 5^th. For the IRC this meant that Jan Kopecký moves into second at 103 points, 33 behind championship leader Andreas Mikkelsen. With double points awarded in Cyprus, second place for Kopecký and a retirement for Mikkelsen would be enough for the Czech.