Andrea Crugnola is the star of the “Lakes” trophy

The number 1 will be firmly attached to the doors of Freguglia and Falzone’s Peugeot 207; the two are the current vice-champions and won in 2010 but their placement will be jeopardized by a crowded group of competitors. The International Rally of the Lakes, organized this year for the 21^st time, has a great and well crowded starting grid, since As Varese’s organizers received 134 crews subscriptions in the end. This is a relevant number (the actual competing crews are 125, whereas the remaining 9 cars are historical vehicles) if you consider the current winds of crisis that are forcing pilots and aficionados to reduce their appearances and support because of the costs.

Standing out in the list of cars that will get into the fight during the nine special try-outs scheduled for Saturday 31^st and Sunday 1^st there is certainly the Citroen Ds3 number 29; in the driving seat there will be the very Andrea Crugnola (see photo above), the talent from Calcinate del Pesce who has already treaded the roads of the World Cup, competing in the WRC Academy, and who has been chosen as the official pilot of the French team to compete in the national transalpine tournament.

Of course, many will try to defeat him, also because many will have a better performing car than "Crugnolino"’s DS: there will be 15 crews between the S2000 and S1600 class, included some who have already won on this track. Besides Freguglia, whom we have already mentioned, we can see Pensotti and Maran (the brothers from Valcuvia – see photo on the side – they just obtained 4th place in the "Ronde del Grifo"), who also know perfectly well all the perils of the track. Gianesini and Spoldi from Valtellina (who have chosen local navigators "Fulvione" and Del Vitto) and Manzini from Brescia, the only one to choose a Skoda among the S2.0, are the main alternatives who come from outside the province and they hope to emulate Matteo Gamba, who last year arrived in 1^st place. About Spoldi, we need to remember that the driver from Sondrio (and cousin of cyclist Ivan Basso) currently holds the record of "defeated with the smallest margin" in the history of the "Lakes" trophy, having been beaten in 2007 by the Marans by just 4 tenths of a second.

If we skim the list of the cars, we can point out other interesting pilots such as the emergent Miele and Di Palma, Rovatti from Lucca, who aim for victory in the two driving wheels category (but watch out for Aldo Calabrini), veterans Re and Mazzetti and, again, Ripoli from Varese, who will bet everything on the show exhibition, Saturday in Caravate. The final placements of this latter exhibition will indeed decide the starting grids for the special try-outs in Sunday, and even a less powerful car such as the 106 number 85 can get in the high places. So, rendez-vous on Friday here on VareseNews to find out times and tracks in details; instead, on Saturday and Sunday, we will leave space to the roaring of the cars and to the spectacle of the "Lakes" trophy.

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The drivers – Download the starting list (.pdf)