It was a positive start to the Italian Rally Championship for French driver Sebastien Chardonnet as he finished second on the Rally dell’Adriatico.
The former WRC 3 championship winner took two stage wins in his Ford Fiesta R5 on the all gravel event on his way to clinching a podium position. Chardonnet finished 21 seconds behind event winner Umberto Scandola after taking second place on stage four.
“It was a really good race; I enjoyed it all weekend,” said Chardonnet, co-driven by Maxime Vilmot. “The car was very good and a big thank you to Pirelli as well, who gave us very good support throughout the weekend.
After San Remo it was important to show that we could be on the pace, despite our lack of experience here in Italy. But the hardest part on the Italian championship is still to come: we need to confirm our position as genuine challengers and I think the best is still round the corner. I’m very happy though how our debut on gravel went with this car.”
The Frenchman is contesting the series for the first time in 2015, the next round takes place at the classic Targa Florio in Sicily at the end of May.
