He had declared before the eve that 2023 would be a year of pleasure and fun, but if a positive result is added to serenity, without the pressure dictated by the pursuit of a championship such as that gathered on the occasion of the Costa del Gargano Rally, the smile can only get bigger.
In short, these are the two days of Alessio Rossano Bellan in Puglia, who will make his absolute debut on roads that he has never traveled before and very different from those he has already seen in Salento.
The driver from Taglio di Po, who started with an Autotecnica2 Skoda Fabia Rally2 and was flanked by Susy Ghisoni on the notes, started the double session of “Macchia” on Saturday with good pace and collected a good sixth place and eighth place in the preliminary general.
At the end of the opening fraction, the AB Motorsport flag bearer finished seventh.
“It was the first time we’ve ridden on the Gargano” – says Bellan – “but I have to admit that my friend Lino Acco was right when he urged us to come here. Beautiful and very fast roads that in a way remind me of the Ronde di Sperlonga, a race that I really like. We have already ridden in Puglia, but in Salento, which is radically different from what we found here. We started well on Saturday and even though we knew we couldn’t keep up with the leaders, we put up a good fight. Compared to Camunia, we found a good setup right from the shakedown, which allowed us to push with more confidence from Saturday night.”
The challenge was restarted on Sunday morning and the Pole continued to grow, managing to reclaim a position in the overall standings and even climb up to sixth in the group and class.
The repetition of “Monte” and “Carbonara” confirmed what had been seen previously and the Tagliolese emerged in the top five for the first time, becoming progressively more comfortable on the Gargano.
Faced with the impossibility of closing the gap that separated him from his predecessors, Bellan renewed sixth absolute place at the end of the last “Monte”, signing the same box in the RC2N group and in the R5 – Rally2 class fuller for two days important satisfactions.
‘It was a really good trip’ – adds Bellan – ‘and I had a great time. I’m learning to use this Skoda. Sitting on the sofa is easy, but being able to take it with you on the special stage is not easy, especially on stages this fast. Everything went smoothly thanks to the Autotecnica2 guys who did their best. Thanks also to Susy, impeccable on the right. We immediately drove fast and were with the local mere mortals, except for the first three, who were impregnable to us. I felt the Skoda was in my hands a lot more than the Camunia and the many compliments we’ve received confirm our improvements. I would like to pay a big compliment to the whole organization of the Costa del Gargano. There weren’t any delays or particular issues and the scenario we’re driving in, both in practice and throughout the rest of the weekend, is unique. A vacation.”
