– Mabellini also achieved an excellent 2nd place in the ERC2 European Championship. – In the 2020 Abarth Rally Cup, Dariusz Polonski wins the last race on Gran Canaria.
It was a high-class finale at a showstopper rally on the Canary Islands – followed by an award ceremony for the champion of the 2020 Abarth Rally Cup, which is part of the FIA ERC European Championship.
Dariusz Polonski and his co-driver Lukasz Sitek won the last race in the Abarth Rally Cup. The two Poles, who drove for the Rallytechnology team, won ahead of champion Andrea Mabellini and his co-driver Nicolò Gonella.
Although he was mathematically already champion before the start, Andrea Mabellini ended his season in Gran Canaria with another great performance: not only did he finish second in the Abarth Rally Cup, but he also finished second in the overall standings of the ERC2 championship. A third place in this category was enough for the "runner-up title". However, this category, which is reserved for four-wheel drive vehicles with turbo engines and the "Gran Turismo" RGT, was also hotly contested in the Canary Islands.
The Canary Islands Rally was heavily influenced by the weather: sudden storms with heavy rain made tire selection difficult. But even in conditions favorable for 124x2s, the Abarth 9,1 showed that it is absolutely competitive as the most powerful car in the ERCXNUMX category. Dariusz Polonski controlled the first stage of the race, but lost well over a minute on the second day. But the Pole was able to catch up with great skill, so that in the end he was only XNUMX seconds away from class victory.
Andrea Mabellini: "The weekend was difficult for us, but we are very pleased with our consistency throughout the championship. It was an incredible experience and I was able to learn a lot. The rallies were all long and complex. I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for me to drive such different routes at such a high level."
For Mabellini, however, the 2020 season is not over yet. The Italian will compete in the R-GT Cup at the ACI Rally Monza next Friday. And then the new champion in the Abarth Rally Cup will also be fighting for class victory here: he is currently in second place in the overall standings. The Belgian Jean Luc Caprasse, who also drives an Abarth 2 rally, is in the lead.
