VICTORY FOR DA ZANCHE-BARONE (PORSCHE 911 RS), THE 2023 TITLE AWARDED TO MATTEO MUSTI

Three days of great sport, as in the liveliest rallying tradition of Elba, characterized the penultimate "tricolour" race of historic cars, which had the honor of awarding the championship to the driver from Pavia one race early.
The rest of the podium goes to the local Francesco Bettini (full Lancia Delta), fully recovering from the disappointment of 2022 and third goes to the Sicilian Riolo (Porsche 911 SC).

Capoliveri (Island of Elba-Livorno), 16 September 2023 – New success for Da Zanche-Barone (Porsche 911 RS), at the XXXV Rallye Elba Storico-Trofeo Locman Italy, penultimate act of the Championship Italian Historic Car Rally, a race which effectively awarded the Italian title to Matteo Musti, paired with Simone Brachi, in a Porsche 911 Carrera.

The first stage had already elevated the driver from Bormio to the lead, after a start that had instead been for Salvatore "Totò" Riolo (Porsche), a great admirer of the island and its competition, with the co-driver Alessandro Floris.

After three stages of the first leg, Da Zanche took the lead and in the second one he was able to both attack and defend himself, despite a problem with the engine of his Porsche which arose in the middle of the day. He was then able to climb onto the first step of the podium until he caressed the checkered flag, while behind him the brawl for the rest of the podium was spectacular. A two-way argument, with the fearsome local Francesco Bettini, with Luca Acri on the notes, second in the final classification, on board the Lancia Delta Integrale "designed" with the fascinating Martini Racing livery.

The driver from Porto Azzurro was trying to redeem himself from last year's disappointment (withdrawal due to an accident) during the final part of the first stage he had to leave the position of honor to Riolo, who had passed second in the sixth round, and then returned to overtake him at the start of the second leg and knowing how to keep up with him until the finish. Apotheosis for Bettini, the best of the always competitive drivers from Elba, for whom their race is always a vibrant challenge in front of the friendly public.

Da Zanche won the second group, Bettini won the fourth while the third was won by Nerobutto-Zanchetta in an Opel Ascona 400. In this category the leader of the standings Natale Mannino (Porsche), was stopped by a broken gearbox already during the third special stage of the first leg.

In the first group, which lost one of the "names" of the championship along the way, Massimo Giuliani went off the road after three stages, victory in the photo finish for one of the "senators" of the category, Giuliano Palmieri, in a Porsche 911, flanked by Lucia Zambiasi , with just 2.2 seconds on season rival Antonio Parisi, flanked by D'Angelo in a similar car, who had been in the lead for three quarters of the race.

Tactical race by Matteo Musti from Pavia, who arrived as championship leader, also with a Porsche. He finished fifth overall with a heavy deficit, but also given the withdrawal of his most fearsome competitor, Mannino, he pulled out all the stops to deservedly sew the championship on his suit.

As usual, a fine performance for Matteo Luise, with the less powerful, but agile and still effective in his hands, Fiat Ritmo 130 Abarth, easily inside the absolute top ten. Crystal clear performance for Salvini-Tagliaferri, in their first experience with the Subaru Legacy group "A". Authors of a "long" in the second stage on Thursday evening, they carried out a very brilliant race (fourth overall at the end).

Overall strong performances also for De Bellis-Soriani, eighth overall and second in the third group on their first Elba with the Porsche 911 SC, while the first foreigner was the Hungarian duo Mekler-Mekler with the much admired Lancia Rally 037, ninth overall.

Perfect races for other Elbans (21 islanders entered the race), such as Galullo-Calandriello and Montauti-Adriani, 12th and 13th overall respectively, with the small Peugeot 205 rallyes.

Several of them, however highly anticipated and of a high level, withdrew: from Mariotti (Ford Sierra Cosworth) due to electrical problems, to Valter Pierangioli (Ford Sierra 4x4) due to a breakdown when he was in excellent sixth place, and finishing with the fast local Andrea Volpi, with Gentini at his side, debuting with a Peugeot 309 16V. They stopped in the first leg when they were in ninth overall position for an electrical failure and they restart in the second leg to close the home race with honors.

In the A112 Abarth Trophy, victory for Gentile-Torricelli over Dall'Avo-Piras and third for Tonetti-Guerzoni.

A great satisfaction, the event for Aci Livorno Sport, which received many confirmations: from that of the high number of members (133) to the strong support received from the Elba area and its Administrations and from the various partners who convincedly supported the project. A competition, the historic one on Elba, this year more than ever confirmed as a driving force for the tourism-accommodation sector and undeniably an image vehicle for communicating the island through the dynamism and also the strong passion of motorsport and its actors.




Source: Press Office