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Andreucci started the event fighting Umberto Scandola for the Italian championship, which was running in tandem with the main Intercontinental Rally Challenge fixture.
With Scandola retiring on the opening day, Andreucci dropped his pace considerably in order to secure the result he needed to claim his seventh Italian title to the delight of thousands of his followers.
“It was difficult,” said Andreucci, a winner of one IRC round in the past with long-term co-driver Anna Andreussi. “We were in a very tight battle for one and a half stages and then Umberto had his problem. After that it was hard work managing the situation. We knew we had to finish and this was the challenge. There were some occasions when it was stressful but we got to the finish and got the result we hoped for.”
Andreucci put his latest title triumph down to a combination of factors: “It’s about the right chances over the years,” he said. “I have a very good co-driver and the feeling with the notes is very good, the road just opens up in front of me. My Peugeot Italia team has performed fantastically well and the tyres are a fantastic choice. Put all these things together and that’s why we’ve had such a high degree of success for so long.”
Rallye Sanremo was Andreucci’s second appearance in this year’s IRC. He has now scored 20 points and holds 14th in the drivers’ standings.
Mikkelsen Andreas
168 pt.
Kopecký Jan
101 pt.
Hänninen Juho
93 pt.
Wiegand Sepp
73 pt.
Consani Robert
97 pt.
Arai Toshi
86 pt.
Aigner Andreas
83 pt.
Tempestini Marco
63 pt.
Hunt Harry
126 pt.
Consani Robert
87 pt.
Kangur Martin
51 pt.
Campedelli Simone
50 pt.
Breen Craig