Sanremo : BFGoodrich - FinishBFGoodrich runners monopolised the podium of the legendary Sanremo Rally, the seventh round of the 2007 Intercontinental Rally Challenge, thanks to Luca Rossetti (Peugeot 207 S2000) who took the laurels ahead of Giandomenico Basso (Abarth Grande
Punto) and Nicolas Vouilloz (Peugeot 207 S2000). The Frenchman put in a superb run to go equal second in the Drivers' points table, seven points behind his team-mate Enrique Garcia Ojeda. BFGoodrich is now also certain of claiming the Italian title: thanks to the victory of Rossetti and the second place of Basso this weekend, the American tyre brand cannot be beaten* with two rounds remaining.
Before the IRC came into town, the records show that there had only been five days of rain in this part of the Ligurian coast since last January. Well, the sixth day of wet weather came last Thursday to mark the first day of action of the 2007 Sanremo Rally! Competitors set out from the service park in pouring rain for an initial loop of three stages in the Monte Bignone region, classic hunting ground over the years for the former WRC fixture. However, while SS1 and SS3 were both extremely wet, the second stage – from Apricale to Baiardo – was curiously relatively dry.
Even so, the vast majority of BFGoodrich's partners still chose the W00 wet weather tyre, with the notable exception of the Italian championship leader Giandomenico Basso (Abarth/BFGoodrich) and the 2007 IRC's early pacesetter Andrea Navarra (Abarth/BFGoodrich) who both preferred instead to go out on 'cut' dry weather tyres. There effectively turned out to be no ideal choice and the trick was finding the ideal compromise… without excessive 'cutting' of the tread patterns.
The opening loop produced an all-Italian provisional top-five, with Paolo Andreucci (Mitsubishi) finishing 2.2s clear of Ypres winner Luca Rossetti (Peugeot/BFGoodrich) and 20.9s ahead of Basso. Gilles Panizzi (6th), Nicolas Vouilloz (10th) and the IRC leader Enrique Garcia Ojeda (13th) all apparently 'cut' their wet weather tyres too much and immediately fell from contention for victory with the longest stage of the 2007 series still to come before end- of-play late Thursday evening.
The awesome 44km test kicked off at 10.57pm and was consequently run in darkness. Its asphalt surface had been dried by the wind and BFGoodrich runners all chose soft compound A01 tyres sporting different degrees of 'cut' as a function of personal preference. As expected, the challenging stage had a radical effect on the provisional podium as Luca Rossetti moved into top spot ahead of Basso and Andreucci, while Nicolas Vouilloz (Peugeot/BFGoodrich) gained no fewer than five places.
The second leg took crews to the Monte Ceppo region for a loop of two stages (27km and 26km) to be covered twice. Sunshine had returned to the Riviera and tyre choices were consequently much more straightforward, with everybody opting this time for dry weather rubber, although the question of durability still caused some head- scratching in the service park. Indeed, the combination of fast, flowing corners, twisty, narrow descents and frequent portions of abrasive asphalt promised to be a tough test of the tyres' ability to resist wear.
Resistance to wear, however, is one of the key qualities of the hard compound g-Force Profiler which all the BFGoodrich drivers chose for the second leg (and indeed some non-BFGoodrich drivers, since several competitors chose to switch brand in the course of the event!). Paolo Andreucci (5th) hit trouble and was passed by Nicolas Vouilloz (3rd, Peugeot/BFGoodrich), Umberto Scandola (4th, Abarth/BFGoodrich) and Gilles Panizzi (Peugeot/BFGoodrich) who had been fourth until taking a 50-second penalty following mechanical problems.
Rally Sanremo : Quotes :
Luca Rossetti : (Peugeot/BFGoodrich)
"I had something of an anxious morning because I really did want to win today's first stage and, after the first few kilometres, I was trailing my main rivals. I thought my set-up wasn't right for the hard compound BFGoodrich tyres I was using, but I was soon reassured on the following stage. For Thursday's half-wet half-dry loop, my non-cut W00s enabled me to stay close behind the early leader. After that, I was able to take command after contesting the long 44km stage on A01 soft compound tyres which delivered consistent performance from start to finish."
Giandomenico Basso : (Abarth/BFGoodrich)
"I am delighted for my team, Abarth, and also for BFGoodrich whose products enabled me to defend my Italian crown. All I had to do was finish second, which is what I did, although it wasn't easy. I made two tyre-choice errors, one on Thursday afternoon and the second on Friday morning. I really had to push hard to make amends!"
Nicolas Vouilloz : (Peugeot/BFGoodrich)
"It's just a shame I got my 'cutting' wrong at the beginning of the rally. After that, my tyres gave me the confidence I needed to switch to maximum attack and fight my way back up the third overall."
Andrea Aghini : (Subaru Impreza)
"I was amazed by the performance and versatility of the BFGoodrich W00 rain tyre which I used for the first time on Thursday evening. I had been expecting it to go well in the wet on SS1, but I was extremely impressed by its performance in the dry on SS2. I've never seen a wet weather tyre perform that well in the dry!"
Jacques Morelli : (BFGoodrich Customer Competition)
"When the conditions were dry, the stages were abrasive for the tyres and the Sanremo will most probably go down as the toughest of the year as far as wear is concerned. That said, the hard compound g-Force Profiler worked very well and it gave those BFGoodrich runners who chose it for Leg 2 an upper hand over their opponents. It is also important to underline performance and versatility of the BFGoodrich W00 rain tyre which contributed to Luca Rossetti's fastest time on SS2 which was completely dry! To make the most of it, however, it was best to refrain from 'cutting' it. The BFGoodrich range we had here covered all the conditions encountered, from rain and damp stages to cool temperatures and sunshine. Nobody really made any tyre choice errors; they were more 'cutting' errors."
Rally Sanremo : Final positions :
1 ROSSETTI-CHIARCOSSI Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 2h31'32"0
2 BASSO-DOTTA Punto Abarth S2000 N4 + 8"7
3 VOUILLOZ-KLINGER Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 + 29"8
4 SCANDOLA-D'AMORE Punto Abarth S2000 N4 + 1'31"1
5 ANDREUCCI-ANDREUSSI Mitsubishi Lancer N4 + 1'52"2
6 GARCIA OJEDA-BARRABES Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 + 1'58"1
7 PANIZZI-PANSERI Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 + 2'16"4
8 NAVARRA-D'ESPOSITO Punto Abarth S2000 N4 + 2'40"1
9 LOIX-CHEVAILLIER Punto Abarth S2000 N4 + 2'57"5
10 PERICO-CARRARA Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 + 3'08"1
11 CANTAMESSA-CAPOLONGO Mitsubishi Lancer N4 + 3'18"1
12 CASIER-MICLOTTE Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 + 5'00"7
13 GAMBA-GUZZI Mitsubishi Lancer N4 + 6'18"3
14 PRESSAC-GORCZYCA Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 + 7'17"9
15 TOTH-TAGAI Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 + 7'59"6
16 CAVIGIOLI-GROSSINI Peugeot 207 S2000 N4 + 8'30"2
17 GUERRA-DI CARO Peugeot 206 S1600 A6 + 9'53"3
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