CATEGORY 4: ‘Lucky’ Looking for Top Honours at Second Home Event

There are five EHSRC entries in Category 4 for Round 8.  After taking maximum points on the Rally Alpi Orientali last month, championship leaders ‘Lucky’ and Fabrizia Pons will once again be challenging for the overall win in their no2 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v on the island of Elba.  

Sweden’s Mats Mysell and Esko Juntilla finished second in the EHSRC Category 4 runners last time out and will once again challenging hard in their Porsche 911 SC.  There are two BMW M3s with Norwegian crew Valter Jensen and Erik Pedersen (no15 BMW M3) and Round 6 Category 4 winners Will Graham and Michael Johnston (no28 BMW M3).

Tim and Steve Jones have swapped back to their Category 4 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth (no46) after competing in a Category 1 Ford Escort Twin Cam on the Alpi Orientali, with the British crew retiring early in the rally. 

CATEGORY 3: Peltonen v Wagner

There are six EHSRC entries in Category 3, with all of the top runners competing in the Rally Elba Storico.   Esa Peltonen and Jyrki Saarto proved to be the gravel kings at their home event in Finland in their no29 Toyota Starlet but in Italy last month reigning champions Karl Wagner and Gerda Zauner fought back in the no6 Porsche 911 SC to close the gap to just two points.  

However, the car to watch on Elba will be the no5 Audi Quattro of ‘Zippo’ and Nicola Arena.  The winners in Belgium and Austria were leading the Alpi Orientali but crashed out on the final stage of the day.  ‘Zippo’ will be looking for a clean run on Elba to close the 17 point gap to the leaders.

Finland’s Pentti Veikkanen and Timo Jaakkola are lying third on 85 points in the no23 Porsche 911 SC, just 5 points behind Peltonen and Saarto. 

Teuvo Hamalainen and Pirjo Rosberg will be competing in their no57 Toyota Starlet and Austrian’s Georg Reitsperger and Herbert Knoedl return in their no58 Volkwagen Golf 16S.

CATEGORY 2: Six Crews Covered by Just Twelve Points

The battle for championship honours in Category 2 is fierce with six crews covered by just 12 points and ten EHSRC eligible cars are entered in the category.

Championship leader Carlo Mylle returns to the fray, with Olivier Laporte rejoining him in the no43 Porsche Carrera RSR.  The Belgians are on 67 points, 5 points ahead of the no19 Porsche 911 RS of Alpi Orientali class winners Maurizio Pagella and Roberto Brea.  The Italians are on the same number of points as the no44 Alfa Romeo GTam of Hungarian’s Peter Magoss and Laszlo Ronay. 

The no14 Porsche 911 RS of Italian crew Paolo Pasutti and Giovanni Battista Campeis is fourth in the standings on 60 points, while the no21 Alfa Romeo GTam of Laszlo and Edit Mekler is on 56 points.  Anders and Ingrid Johnsen final broke their run of bad luck on the Alpi Orientali, the Swedes reaching the finish ramp in second place to claim some valuable points. The no26 Porsche 911 RSR is currently 6thon 55 points, just 12 behind Carlo Mylle’s Porsche. 

Pietro Corredig and Sonia Borghese will be in their no35 BMW 2002TI, while Italian crew Mirko Acconciaioco and Antonello Moncado will be competing in the no42 Porsche 911RS.

Anglo-Irish duo James Calvert and James O’Brien will be back out in the distinctive no97 Volkswagen 1303S, with Estonian crew Villu Mattik and Arvo Maslenikov returning in the no96 VAZ 2101. 

CATEGORY 1: Graham and Parisi Go Head to Head Once Again

With six EHSRC Category 1 cars entered for Rally Elba Storico, the battle for the championship title is set to resume. Championship leaders Antonio Parisi and Giuseppe D’Angelo (109 points) won the class battle last time out in the no37 Porsche 911S and hold a slender four point advantage over the no52 Ford Escort Twin Cam of British couple Ernie and Karen Graham (105 points).  The Graham’s struggled with brakes on day one of the Alpi Orientali and fought back on day 2 to finish third in class.  

Finland’s Elias Kivitila and Timo Tuominen are currently in third place on 85 points and will be competing on elba in the no75 BMW 2002 Ti.  Italian’s Carlo Fiorito and Marina Bertonasco took second place on the Rally Alpi Orientali in the no76 BMW 2002 Ti 

The no104 Volvo 122 of Finland’s Jari Hyvarinen and Jarno Ala-Turkia will once again be competing in the FIA European Historic Sporting Rally Championship, while Ari Koponen is eligible for championship points in the Category 1 Co-Drivers title race and is competing with British driver Tim Sayer in the no77 Ford Escort Twin Cam.

CLICK HERE for the entry list for the Rally Elba Storico