Avbelj and Alfieri at Colline Metallifere, Bianco at Piancavallo and Enok in the ERC finale.
Four crews and three events across Italian asphalt and Portuguese gravel.
MS Munaretto will be in action with four crews across three events over the weekend of 23–25 October, dividing its efforts between Tuscany, Friuli and Portugal. The programme takes in the Rally delle Colline Metallifere, Rally Piancavallo and Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal, with three Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars and one Renault Clio S1600 entrusted to drivers who have already competed with the Schio-based team.
At the 11th Rally delle Colline Metallifere-Pomarance, the final round of the International Rally Cup, Boštjan Avbelj will once again be joined by Damijan Andrejka in the number 3 Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. The Slovenian arrives on the back of fourth overall at Rallye Sanremo, where a late charge brought five consecutive stage wins. It was another demonstration of the pace he has shown with MS Munaretto, which also carried him to overall victory at this season’s Rally del Taro. Returning to the IRC will give the crew another opportunity to challenge at the front and round off their campaign with a strong result.
Eugenio Alfieri will also line up on the Tuscan stages, with Jacopo Fabbri alongside him in the number 21 Renault Clio S1600. The Valdelsa Corse driver renews a partnership that has already delivered a class victory at the 2024 Rally della Fettunta, secured in an MS Munaretto car with a performance that grew stronger as the rally progressed. His familiarity with the French front-wheel-drive car will provide a useful starting point on the Alta Val di Cecina stages, where the Super 1600 battle will unfold on roads of varying character, with action also continuing after dark.
The Tuscan event will take place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, with ten special stages covering 105.33 competitive kilometres. Saturday’s programme features two passes each through San Dalmazio and Sasso Pisano, with the second loop held after dark, followed by three passes each through Micciano and Montecatini Val di Cecina on Sunday. The finish is scheduled for 16:30 in Pomarance, with the event carrying a 1.5 multiplier for IRC points.
At the 39th Rally Piancavallo, Efrem Bianco and Dino Lamonato will take to the stages in the number 6 Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. The Vicenza driver continues a long-standing relationship with MS Munaretto, having also competed with the team at this year’s Rally della Marca, where he finished second in the Over 55 category after steadily building his pace throughout the event. This latest outing in Friuli offers another opportunity to build on the work already carried out with the team. The crew’s experience and familiarity with the Fabia will stand them in good stead on the roads around Pordenone, starting with the long Barcis-Piancavallo opening stage.
Piancavallo will also take place on 24–25 October, starting and finishing in Maniago. Seven stages will cover 69.84 competitive kilometres: three on the opening day, including Piancavallo after dark, and four on Sunday across the Castelnovo del Friuli and Clauzetto stages.
The team’s third event will take it to Portugal alongside Patrick Enok and Silver Simm, entered in the number 31 Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. The Estonian crew returns to MS Munaretto following September’s Rally 1000 Miglia, which marked the start of their partnership and Enok’s first rally on asphalt. That outing ended with third place in the Under 25 category. The switch to Portuguese gravel will offer the young driver another opportunity to develop, testing himself against the leading contenders in the continental series and gaining further experience at the wheel of a Rally2 car as he continues working with the Schio-based team.
The Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal, the final round of the FIA European Rally Championship, will run from 23 to 25 October, with its base in Fafe. The route features seventeen special stages totalling 181.10 competitive kilometres, completing a weekend that will see MS Munaretto in action on a variety of surfaces and stages.
