Pirelli Dominates the Rally di Roma Capitale with Daprà, Suninen and Basso

Pirelli dominated the 2026 Rally di Roma Capitale, a round of both the FIA European Rally Championship and the Campionato Italiano Assoluto Rally, filling the entire podium and winning every special stage except for the short super special stage held at the Colosseum on Friday.

Roberto Daprà secured Pirelli’s fifth consecutive victory in as many editions and consolidated its lead in the ERC tyre manufacturers’ standings. He finished ahead of Teemu Suninen and Boštjan Avbelj, all driving Skoda Fabias. Giandomenico Basso, last year’s winner, finished behind them, also in a Skoda Fabia equipped with Pirelli tyres. At the end of the Rally di Roma Capitale, Suninen and Basso are first and second respectively in the provisional European Championship standings, followed by Andrea Mabellini, whose Lancia Ypsilon is also fitted with Pirelli tyres.

Daprà won four of the eleven special stages, including the second runs through the two most feared sections of the new route, Piana di Rascino (SS3 and SS6) and Vallecupola (SS2 and SS5), confirming his particular competitiveness on the roads of the Rieti area.

“It was a thrilling rally, which ended for us with a fifth consecutive victory in five years and six drivers in the top ten, achieved on a route that was completely new compared with previous editions,” commented Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally Activity Manager. “Our new P Zero Hard RA5C tyres demonstrated strong reliability and performance on these highly demanding stages, characterised by significant elevation changes and constant changes of pace.”

In the categories supplied exclusively by Pirelli, Craig Rahill won the M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy round, while Gabriel Di Pietro, driving a Peugeot 208, claimed victory in the Pirelli Star Rally4 Trophy.