Lombardo, who also banked maximum FIA EHRC points on Rally Costa Brava in March, moved to the head of the FIA EHRC order on Friday’s third stage and gradually grew his advantage alongside co-driver Roberto Consiglio.

After completing leg one 23.8s ahead of early FIA EHRC pacesetter Valter Pierangioli (Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4), Lombardo was fastest on all five Saturday stages to win on the Italian island by 1m31.5s aboard his Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.0.

Lombardo also secured the Category 2 honours as Pierangioli won Category 4 in second (above) with “Zippo” edging a step closer to the overall FIA EHRC title, which is being awarded for the first time this year, by finishing third in his Category 3-winning Audi Quattro.

“It was a great performance,” said Lombardo, who overcame earlier brake issues. “It’s truly incredible the fans we have here, it’s just amazing.”

Pierangioli said: “The winner was incredibly fast, we lack some car reliability but we are on the right track. We hope to keep having fun in Sanremo and Greece.”

After completing the FIA EHRC podium, “Zippo” (below) said: “We are really happy because we did the result we want, we won the category, this result was the maximum for the Quattro behind the Porsche.”

Behind “Zippo”, Tibor Érdi Jr hit back from early driveshaft issues to finish fourth and second in Category 4 in his Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4.

Flexifly Rally Team’s Ernie Graham, who is co-driven by his daughter Anna Graham, was fifth starting the penultimate stage but came home in ninth after his BMW M3 cut out on SS9.

His misfortunate promoted Guy Trolliet into fifth, but the Swiss dropped behind Czech Vojtěch Štajf (Toyota Celica GT-4 (ST165) on the final stage as Massimo Guerra (Porsche 911 Carrera RS) and Eric Guignard (Renault 5 Turbo) headed Graham in seventh and eighth places respectively.

László Mekler (Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint) won the FIA EHRC 1600cc Trophy in 10th overall having gained two places during the deciding leg.

Karl Wagner was eighth overnight on his return to FIA EHRC action, but he retired on SS9 when his Porsche lost third gear. Alan Ring (BMW M3) was also ahead of Mekler only to pick up a one-minute time penalty for an early check-in. He eventually finished 0.8s behind his Hungarian rival.

Category 1 champion James Potter finished 12th on his first Category 2 outing of the year with Péter Magoss, Tim Jones and Jesus Díez Villarroel next up. Villarroel won Category 1 in his Porsche 911 S 2.0 (below) after Antonio Parisi dropped out on Friday with a mechanical issue.

Petr Gadomski (Toyota Corolla AE82) triumphed in the FIA EHRC Front Wheel Drive Trophy, one place ahead of Natale Mirabile (Fiat Ritmo Abarth 130 TC).

The FIA EHRC remains on asphalt but heads to the Italian mainland next for the 39th Sanremo Rally Storico from October 19/20.

Photos: Amicorally and Photo Lazzerini

Rallye Elba Storico results:
https://rally.ficr.it/#/RAL/programma/XXXVI%20RALLY%20ELBA%20STORICO%20-%20FIA%20-%20E.H.R.C./2024/316/23/1