Rachele Somaschini made a late decision to swtich to a brand-new Peugeot 208 Rally4 for her ERC3 Junior debut ahead of this weekend’s Rally di Roma Capitale having originally planned was to enter the ERC3 class in a Citroën DS3 R3T.
The 26-year-old will be competing in Italy also with a new co-driver in the form of Giulia Zanchetta with the will entering under the RS Team SSD with support by Sportec Engineering banner for the opening round of the 2020 FIA European Rally Championship.
Earlier this month Somaschini and her new co-driver won the R3T class at the Rally Internazionale del Casentino with the DS3 that had been planned to be entered with this weekend.
“Rally Roma Capitale is one of my favourite races while for Giulia it will be the first time,” Somaschini said who is the first Italian driver to use the all-new Peugeot 208 Rally4 car.
“We are trying to train hard for it, by also watching the onboards of the past years, in order to keep us well focused. The goal will be doing our best with a totally new car and to refine the feeling with Giulia, as we have only raced once together so far. I feel this responsibility, but I am very happy to be the first Italian rally driver to race with the Peugeot 208 Rally4.”
Somaschini is also promoting the #CorrerePerUnRespiro, campaign this weekend which means in English ‘race for a breath’ and she will be using on her ERC outting to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis, as disease herself suffers from.
“I thank my sponsors who, after a difficult period, offer me this chance of getting involved on the European stage and allow me to make the #CorrerePerUnRespiro project known even across the Italian borders, with the aim to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis.” Somaschini added
Fans can donate a towards the camapgin via her social media page HERE as well as on the FIA European Rally Championship website.
