A few more days of waiting and we will again be talking about the Alpe Adria Rally Cup and the Slovenian Rally Championship on the occasion of the Vipavska Dolina Rally.
Next weekend, the Xmotors team will cross Italy’s borders to support one of the contenders for the posh quarters of the standings, playing the Federico Laurencich card.
The driver from Gorizia, who has returned to his origins and faces the first two rounds of the Mitropa Rally Cup on a Peugeot 106 Rallye, will be in the game on a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, made available by PA Racing and with the inseparable Alberto Mlakar is shared.
“I haven’t driven front-wheel drive since 2017” – says Laurencich – “and for this year we have decided to tackle this new challenge, the Mitropa Rally Cup, with a small Peugeot 106 Rallye. The first two races, both in Austria, didn’t go badly, we brought home two second places in the championship, but now it’s time to get back on the PA Racing Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, a car we know very well. Starting with the number four on the sides, we’ll go up against drivers of the caliber of Turk and Peljhan. It will be a tough fight, but of course our goal is to go for the big result.”
A return made by Laurencich at the start of the Slovenian appointment that evokes the fifth overall of a 2022 edition that Gorizia will try to improve to aim for the podium.
“Last year we could have done much better” – stresses Laurencich – “but we made the wrong tire choice on Saturday morning. The weather was very changeable, it had rained heavily on the opening stage and we also found snow in the second half of Saturday. In such difficult conditions we tried to push hard but it was so easy to make mistakes. We hope the weather will be kinder to us this year.”
The appointment for Friday, April 28th at 8 p.m. for the confrontation of the first special stage, that of “Klančar Žerjavi” (3.81 km), which will anticipate the turning point of the two days.
The first round on Saturday will see “Visnje” (8.85 km) and “Planina” (11.87 km) as protagonists, which will be repeated in two rounds, while the fight in the afternoon will move to “Zablje” (8.00 km) and further moved “Predmeja” (13.40 km), three laps on the first and two on the second.
“We are fortunate that the route has remained unchanged compared to 2022” – adds Laurencich – “and this will allow us to make the most of what we know about the route. Last year only one special stage was skipped due to snow, so only this one will be new for us. The package we have at our disposal is tried and tested, we know the car well and we have an extremely professional team to support us. We’re aware of the level of opponents we’re going to face, but like every time we’ll give it our all and see what comes of it. Thanks to all partners, PA Racing and Xmotors Team for the support.”
