24/10/2009: Rossetti wins Rally of Como for Abarth and finishes level at the top of the Italian Rally Championship

The Grande Punto Abarth S2000 of Luca Rossetti and Matteo Chiarcossi won the 28th Rally of Como, the last round of the Italian Rally Championship. This victory allows the Abarth driver to finish level with Paolo Andreucci (Peugeot) in the Italian Championship. Both drivers won three events – reigning Champion Rossetti won the Targa Florio, the Sanremo Rally and the Rally of Como – but the tie-breaker rule gave Andreucci the title thanks to a larger number of second places.

At the finish, Abarth team manager Nicola Gullino said: "The 2009 edition of the Italian Championship has been for sure the most hard-fought of all times. I'd like to thank our partners and all the team for their season-long commitment, which allowed the Grande Punto Abarth to be competitive on every type of surface and to consistently deliver increased performance. We fought tooth and nail in all eight rounds of the championship which drew to a close in an emotional manner with two consecutive wins for Rossetti."

At the Rally of Como, the Abarth driver took good advantage of his Grande Punto Abarth S2000's nimbleness and drove flat out during the second leg to win five of the seven special stages. At the end of the first leg, he was third but, in the last but one stage, he managed to pass Renato Travaglia (Peugeot), who finished second.

Tuscany's Emanuele Dati also did well at the wheel of a privately entered Grande Punto Abarth S2000, winning the Italian Privateers' title. He finished eighth overall at the Rally of Como.

Rally of Como classification:
1. Rossetti-Chiarcossi (Abarth Grande Punto S2000), 1hr 42min54.7s;
2. Travaglia-Granai (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 3.2s;
3. Cantamessa-Capolongo (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 54.0s;
4. Longhi-Imerito (Skoda Fabia S2000) + 1min00.4s;
5. Andreucci-Andreussi (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 1min18.6s;
6. Signor-Barone (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 1min39.7s;
7. Perico-Carrara (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 1min56.1s;
8. Dati-Tommaso + 3min22.3s.

Italian Championship standings:
1. Paolo Andreucci (Peugeot) and Luca Rossetti (Abarth) 66 points;
3. Renato Travaglia (Abarth, Peugeot, Skoda and Mitsubishi) 54;
4. Piero Longhi (Skoda) 23;
5. Alessandro Perico (Peugeot) 17.