The 2023 season of a Marcello Razzini ends between satisfaction and regret, who once again demonstrated a remarkable potential that was all too often prevented from reaching its full potential by ham-fisted shots from an opponent.
Also at the last Rally Città di Schio, the final event of the International Rally Cup, the driver from Parma had to throw his heart over the obstacle after he stumbled at the start and had to go into overtime.
The representative of Collecchio Corse came to Vicenza with the mathematical means to keep him in the game for the most prestigious title, the absolute title in an IRC that has never been so uncertain.
Driving a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo managed by the By Bianchi Rally Team and flanked by the inseparable Gianmaria Marcomini, the Emilian knew he had to step on the gas to make up the gap that separated him from the series’ leading train, But a fatal puncture that occurred in the first game on Friday evening ruined his high-ranking ambitions.
“We are aware that it would have been difficult to win the title,” says Razzini, “but we believed in it and were not cut off from the contenders for victory.” On the first special stage on Friday we had a puncture that practically left us prevented us from pulling out all the stops to make the IRC our own. However, we never gave up.”
After completing the “Monte di Malo” in twenty-fifth place overall, Razzini started Saturday with a strong attitude and after the first round of the three planned special stages, the ranking did him credit as he was able to gain fifteen places in a preliminary race, which enabled entry into the top ten of the general class, the RC2N group and the R5 Rally2 class.
The repetition of “Santa Caterina”, “Ponte Verde” and “Pedescala” further confirmed the pace of the flag-bearer of the Felino team, who signed two partial seventh places that allowed him to climb to ninth overall in the group Class.
A clear recovery, seasoned with a good portion of bitterness about the missed opportunity at the beginning, which is reflected in fifth place in the final of one of Italy’s most popular series.
“Things went well for us on Saturday,” adds Razzini, “and we gained several positions and managed to get into the top ten of the overall ranking, albeit with great difficulty.” It was the first time that we were in Schio, a rally that turned out to be particularly demanding but didn’t suit my driving style. We are happy that we managed to recover and take home a nice prize pool. We finished fifth overall on IRC, with some regret, but also the joy of having always been at the top of the rankings. Many thanks to the By Bianchi Rally Team because they have always provided us with a powerful and reliable car. Many thanks to Collecchio Corse, especially to the President Gianni, and to all the partners who supported us. Many thanks to Gianmaria Marcomini and Filippo Alicervi, without ever forgetting the legendary Andrea Freschi, who, along with everyone else, never stopped believing in me.”
