Christian Merli fourth overall at the 2nd Trentino Rallye

Christian Merli and his co-driver Massimo Furlini finished fourth overall in their first outing with the Skoda Fabia RS. Organised by Scuderia Trentina in collaboration with Automobile Club Trento, the 2nd Trentino Rallye counted for the Coppa Rally 4ª Zona. It started on Saturday in Mori in Trento province, from where the teams left for the special stages of “Ronzo Chienis” and “Lenzima”, both of which were done twice. On Sunday from just after 10.00 the teams embarked on the “Arco” (13.800 km) and “Volano” special stages. In the afternoon both “Arco” and “Volano” were repeated.

Christian, fourth overall at your debut with the Fabia RS
„I hadn’t done a rally on tarmac since January 2022, and I was curious to test the most recent evolution of the Skoda Fabia, the RS. It went very well, if you consider that we started out in pouring rain with sudden fog banks. On the second day the surface was very tricky because of wet, mud, puddles, leaves and rivulets of water which crossed the track. So it was very slippery and we went into a spin a few times.

The Fabia RS is a fantastic car which demands clean driving. We’re very happy with this result in a completely new rally and a new car. We’ve fully achieved our goal, which was to have fun after a splendid European championship season where we dominated six of the nine races in which we took part. Not to forget our victory at Pikes Peak.”

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

Translation by Ruth Scheithauer