French rally star Pierre Campana has today laid claim to a second consecutive Super 2000 victory in the Ronde del Grifo in the Veneto region of Italy.

In just his second appearance in the event, Campana brushed aside a series of setbacks during the day to set the fifth best cumulative time and quickest in S2000 by 18 seconds. The Ronde del Grifo sees participants tackle the same 13.5km stage on four separate occasions in a clover-leaf format with many local drivers, who are well acquainted with the course, taking part.

Pierre tried his best to fight for the outright victory but his chances were scuppered in the first stage when he caught a much slower car during the run which held him up for an agonising 6.5km. As a result, Pierre lost some 50 seconds during the stage which prevented him from competing for an outright podium place.  Pierre had to settle for the 14th quickest time in the first of the four identical Crespadoro stages and played catch up for the rest of the day.

Digging deep, Pierre set the fifth best time overall in the second stage and vaulting to eighth overall. He went one better in the afternoon’s third stage by claiming fourth overall and elevating him and his co-driver Sabrina de Castelli another two places higher up the standings to sixth. In both stages, Pierre was comfortably the quickest of the S2000 cars with his Michelin-shod Peugeot, run by the local Munaretto team.

Pierre was in with a shout for fourth overall as the fourth and final stage got underway but a red flag midway through his run curtailed his progress and left his final time up to the decision of the stewards. He was still able to set the sixth quickest time of the stage and cement his fifth position in the event, and the S2000 victory.

The event was an extremely useful exercise for Pierre, as indeed it was in 2010, in terms of learning the 4WD Peugeot car, the Michelin tyre performance and continuing his work with the Munaretto team. He also benefitted from the additional support courtesy of event partners Perin Generators and Quotidia. Pierre is currently working with his management team on the next stage of his increasingly successful career with more details likely to be announced in the near future.

Pierre commented: “It was a bittersweet event for me but one which I thoroughly enjoyed again. It is a fantastic event against very knowledgeable local competitors. To finish the event as the top S2000 car for a second year running is a great achievement. That said, I am a bit disappointed that the first and final stages were not as good as they should have been for reasons out of my control. In the first stage, I came across a much slower car which I was stuck behind for over 6km, effectively ruining my time and chance to fight for a podium. The second and third stages felt really good with the Peugeot, run by the fantastic Munaretto team and with Michelin tyres. The final run of the day was complicated by a red flag which meant I wasn’t able to chase the fourth place overall that I was aiming for. Nevertheless, I was happy to have this experience again and to get some competitive running behind me. Thanks to Munaretto, Michelin, Perin and Quotidia, we had a good result today. I am working hard with my management on a project for the future, which I hope to be able to confirm in the coming weeks.”
 

For more information about Pierre Campana, please contact www.pierrecampana.com or email media@quadrasports.com