Test for Christian Merli at the 2nd Trentino Rallye

On Friday 106 teams will be lining up for scrutineering and administrative checking for the 2nd Trentino Rallye in Mori near Lake Garda in Italy. Organised by the Scuderia Trentina in collaboration with Automobile Club Trento, the event counts for the Coppa Rally 4ª Zona. It starts at 16.31 on Saturday afternoon at Via Matteotti in Mori, and the first special stage, “Ronzo Chienis” with its 9.150 km, is scheduled for 17.13. It will be followed just before 18.00 by “Lenzima”, 2.860 km long. These first two special stages are then repeated. On Sunday just after 10.00 the teams will embark on the 13.800 km of the “Arco” special stage and at 11.38 on the special stage named “Volano”. In the early afternoon starting at 14.00 both “Arco” and “Volano” will be repeated, and around 16.30 the first team is expected to cross the finish line.

Start number 5 for the Best Performer in Europe
“I haven’t raced in a rally on tarmac since January 2022. This discipline has always been my great passion, and I’m really keen to try out the most recent development of the Skoda Fabia, the RS. It’s the 4x4, which I may be driving again in future. My co-driver Massimo Furlini and I decided at the last minute to take part in the Trentino Rallye. It’s a test race, and to be honest I’d love to arrive close to the top, even if there is very strong competition. Yes, I’m excited to get to know this car, and I’ll try to improve with each special stage. A completely new rallye with a new car. The event will be impacted by the rain, particularly on Saturday. However, my goal remains to have fun after a splendid European championship season where we dominated six of the nine races in which we took part. Then there was of course our success at Pikes Peak, where we were racing for the first time and won our category.”

The rallye
On the two days taken together, the teams will be on the road for 297 km, of which 67 km for the eight special stages.

Translation by Ruth Scheithauer