Roberto Daprà maintained his overnight advantage to secure his maiden ERC (European Rally Championship) victory with a standout win on home soil at Rally di Roma Capitale. Teemu Suninen held on to P2 to take the championship lead after Round 3.
Leading by 20.2sec heading into Sunday’s deciding four stages, Daprà moved further out of the reach of his rivals by winning the day’s opening test for an extended lead of 25.0sec.
With his first ERC triumph all but assured, Delta Rally-run Daprà adopted a more conservative approach for the deciding three stages, which he completed with an overall margin of 13.8sec.
In the process the 25-year-old Italian, who was co-driven by compatriot Luca Guglielmetti, became the eighth Junior ERC graduate to win an ERC event outright to further underline the importance of the young driver series in developing the next generation of talent.
“Crazy, crazy, we are very happy,” said the Pirelli-equipped Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 Daprà. “It was demanding today, very, very stressful. But we managed to win. And after last week in [Acropolis Rally] Greece, I think that we deserve this big emotion, and I am very, very happy.”
Suninen holds off Avbelj for P2 by half a second
By finishing second – albeit by 0.5sec – in another Pirelli-supplied Fabia, Teemu Suninen moved to the top of the standings by four points after three rounds with Boštjan Avbelj beating double European champion Giandomenico Basso to the final podium spot by 3.2sec. (Article continues after the photo.)
Basso demoted Avbelj for third when his Italian-domiciled Slovenian rival spun on SS8. But Avbelj hit back to reclaim the position on the penultimate stage and almost denied Suninen second place by winning the Power Stage.
After Saturday’s action focused on untried mountainous stages northeast of Rome, Sunday’s route to the east of the city visited smoother – and cleaner – roads in more familiar territory. However, the intense heat remained a notable challenge for the ERC stars and their cars.
Hyundai-powered Arthur Pelamourgues was on course to finish fifth on his ERC debut following a fine drive. But the Michelin-equipped French rising star crashed on SS10, which left Yoann Bonato to complete the top five as the leading Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale runner.
Solid P6 for Johansson, Mabellini P8, Marczyk P10
Despite completing Friday night’s Colosseum super special in 24th place among the ERC contenders, former Junior ERC champion Mille Johansson battled back to finish sixth with Pablo Sarrazin and Andrea Mabellini seventh and eighth respectively.
Mabellini climbs to third in the championship standings, 15 points adrift of Suninen. (Article continues after the photo.)
Hankook-suppled Yohan Rossel and defending ERC champion Miko Marczyk rounded out the top 10. Marczyk is now P11 in the championship standings, tied on 22 points with Calle Carlberg who didn’t compete in Italy.
Ireland’s Craig Rahill won ERC3 as well as the Fiesta Rally3 Trophy in Rome by 14.8 seconds over Finland’s Ville Vatanen.
An all-Italian combination won in ERC4 and the Junior ERC, as Davide Pesavento claimed victory on home soil in his Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 HF. Pesavento held off Alexandre Vial by just 1.6 seconds to win ERC4.
In the Juniors, Pesavento won by 32.1 seconds over Opel driver Timo Schulz, who remains the Junior ERC leader after two rounds. (Article continues after the photo.)
The FIA European Rally Championship’s Tarmac tour continues in the Polish city of Katowice and surrounding countryside of the Silesia region later this month with the 82nd running of Rally Poland from 24 – 26 July.
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ERC Rally di Roma Capitale 2026 – Final results
| # | Drivers | Car | Time / Diff. to 1st |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Daprà / Guglielmetti | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 1:58:02.5 |
| 2. | Suninen / Haapala | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +13.8 |
| 3. | Avbelj / De Guio | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +14.3 |
| 4. | Basso / Granai | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +17.5 |
| 5. | Bonato / Boulloud | Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 | +58.8 |
| 6. | Johansson / Grönvall | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +1:14.1 |
| 7. | Sarrazin / Roche | Citroën C3 Rally2 | +1:24.4 |
| 8. | Mabellini / Lenzi | Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 | +1:24.7 |
| 9. | Y Rossel / Dunand | Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 | +1:30.4 |
| 10. | Marczyk / Gospodarczyk | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +1:37.3 |
ERC 2026 Drivers’ Championship – Standings after Round 3/7 [Top 10]
| # | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Teemu Suninen | 48 |
| 2. | Giandomenico Basso | 45 (-3) |
| 3. | Andrea Mabellini | 33 (-15) |
| 4. | Jose Antonio Suárez | 30 (-18) |
| 4. | Mikko Heikkilä | 30 (-18) |
| 4. | Roberto Daprà | 30 (-18) |
| 7. | Mārtiņš Sesks | 28 (-20) |
| 8. | Iván Ares | 27 (-21) |
| 9. | Boštjan Avbelj | 26 (-22) |
| 10. | Calle Carlberg | 22 (-26) |
Content, photos: Red Bull Content Pool
