Rome, July 25th 2021. Hyundai i20 R5 of Hyundai Rally Team Italia managed by S.A. Motorsport faced ERC Rally di Roma Capitale this weekend. Danilo Fappani was chosen to replace navigator Guido d'Amore, regular race partner of Umberto Scandola, who got lightly injured during an accident occurred in last ERC Rally Lepāja. 

Fappani is a known name in Italian rally scene who won three of the major Italian Championships (CIR, CIT, CIWRC) next to three different drivers (Dallavilla, Campedelli, Albertini) on board of three different rally cars (Subaru, Mitsubischi, Ford). His experience is therefore solid and mature to face ERC races.

Even if Scandola and Fappani worked hard to find the set up and Scandola's experience on this rally is undeniable, the first tests forced the newly born team barely made it to the top 10. Due to a tyre issue they lost time in stage 9 that made them slip to P12 among ERC contestants, behind another Hyundai i20 R5 led by Breen-Nagle that closed in P9.

"We are absolutely unhappy with the outcome and with our performance during the whole weekend" says a disappointed Umberto Scandola. "Now we'll try to understand what didn't work out in this rally which, has truly been below our expectations if you consider that I won it twice in the past. In the next weeks we will try to defend the leadership in CIRT Italian Rally Championship in Arezzo and later we'll focus on the next round of the European Rally Barum in Czech Republic. Our goal is to be protagonists again."

Hyundai Rally Team Italia supported by Pakelo will race again in ERC championship next August 27th-29th in Czech Republic. Let's hope that the team could sort out all set up issues that affected their performance in this round in Rome.