Quadra Sports driver Pierre Campana is well prepared for next weekend's Rallye du Valais in Switzerland after using the Como Rally in northern Italy, the final round of the Italian Rally Championship, as a shakedown event.

Pierre drove a Renault Clio R3 run by the Italian Munaretto team, which he took to class victory on the Rally d'Alpi Orientali in Italy this year and second in class on the world-famous Monte Carlo Rally in January.

The all-asphalt Como Rally was run over two days in dry weather with sunshine, but Pierre and his co-driver Sabrina de Castelli got off to a fraught start when they picked up a puncture prior to the first stage. They finished fourth on the stage and were happy with the car, but a big surprise was to follow.

On the second stage Pierre clipped the apex of a first-gear hairpin bend against a small lip of cement and rolled his car. He was able to complete the stage with minimal damage, but the following stage was cancelled due to an accident involving another competitor.

Pierre was then prevented from starting SS4 because there was a crack in his windscreen that was judged to be dangerous because it limited his visibility. The Frenchman re-started day two under the super rally system in order to complete his testing for the Rallye du Valais.

The 24-year-old, backed by ground-breaking French simulator company Ellip6, commented: "We still had a small chance of winning the Italian Clio series, so we decided to go flat-out from the beginning. Unfortunately we rolled the car on what was probably the slowest corner of the rally, and then our event was compromised. We were very unlucky as the car was fine to continue; it was just a crack in the windscreen that caused us to stop. From that point, we decided that it would be best to concentrate on testing for the Rallye du Valais next weekend, which will be run on quite similar roads, so we turned Como into a shakedown event. In the end, it was not our rally but there are many positives: we've learned a lot and I think that we're well prepared for Switzerland now. I'd like to thank Ellip6 and Munaretto for their valuable support, and we're all looking forward to a strong result next weekend."

For further information:    

www.pierrecampana.com
www.quadrasports.com
media@quadrasports.com
www.ellip6.com

Ajaccio, 24 October 2010