The 2025 Rally di Roma Capitale, the fifth round of the European Rally Championship (ERC), kicked off yesterday with a lively atmosphere at the historic Colosseum.
Day 1 finished with first with a time of 56.2. He was closely followed by Mabellini, just 0.4 behind, and Tempestini, only 0.5 adrift. Day 2 featured three stages, each run twice: Collepardo–Pozzo d’Antullo, Torre di Cicerone, and Santopadre.
The very first stage of Saturday (SS2) shook up the standings. Avbelj dropped to seventh place, where he finished the day. Tempestini also struggled, slipping from third to eighth and ending the day in 11th position.
Polish driver Marczyk impressed early on, setting strong times in both the first and second stages. He briefly took the overall lead, overtaking the local drivers. Unfortunately, he made a mistake at a junction in SS4, braking too late and overshooting the turn, costing him about 4.5 seconds.
The morning stages were incredibly close, with four drivers fighting for the lead. The morning loop ended with Crugnola in front with a total time of 33:30.4. Basso followed just 0.7 seconds behind, with Mabellini 1.1 seconds back and Marczyk 1.3 seconds off the lead.
The afternoon stages continued the tight battle. Crugnola managed to hold onto his lead with a total time of 1:06:07.3 by the end of the day. Basso remained close in second place by 3.3 seconds behind. Marczyk moved ahead of Mabellini to take third, finishing 8.7 seconds behind the leader.
There was unfortunate news as Matulka was forced to retire after rolling his car during SS6. Thankfully, both he and his co-driver are unharmed.
With only a few seconds separating the top contenders, the fight for the podium is far from over. Crugnola is aiming for a historic hat-trick at Rally di Roma Capitale, but with two-time ERC champion Basso just 3.3 seconds behind, anything can happen in the final stages.