RAAB Rally: Zone 6 title decided on Apennine stages
The 33rd Rally Alto Appennino Bolognese (RAAB) will serve as the decisive final round of the Italian Zone 6 Rally Cup this weekend, with three drivers separated by just three points fighting for the championship and a place in the national final at Lucca in November. Organised by MaremmaCorse 2.0 with support from the local community and Bologna Automobile Club, the event will take place around Castiglione dei Pepoli in the Bologna Apennines.
Christian Tiramani from Piacenza leads the Zone 6 standings on 29 points, followed closely by two Reggio Emilia drivers: Antonio Rusce on 28 points and Gianluca Tosi on 26. All three compete in Skoda Fabia RS cars. Tiramani holds a one-point advantage over Rusce, but Tosi—winner of last year's RAAB—remains within striking distance with three points to recover. The championship battle will unfold across ten special stages totalling 63.7 kilometres of timed running on Sunday, after a short opening stage on Saturday evening.
The entry list includes 86 competitors overall. Among notable participants is Ville Vatanen, a 19-year-old Finnish driver who was crowned ERC-3 European Champion at the Ceredigion Rally in Wales the previous week. Vatanen, a distant relative of legendary rally driver Ari Vatanen, will contest the RAAB in a Citroën C3 Rally2 on his debut in the car. Other contenders include Roberto Vellani (Skoda Fabia RS), Simone Brusori (Skoda), Giacomo Guglielmini (Renault Clio Rally3), and Lorenzo Grani (Peugeot 208 Rally4).
Historic and classic cars will also compete. The classic category—reserved for vehicles built between 1991 and 2000—features Alessandro Bonafè in a Porsche Carrera RS and Ludovico Fassitelli, a prominent Italian rally driver from the 1990s, in a BMW M3. The route repeats the previous year's layout, featuring three stages—Valserena (6.33 km), Sparvo (7.0 km), and Traserra (7.37 km)—each run three times on Sunday. The Traserra is a historic RAAB stage, while Sparvo is known for a distinctive jump that provides one of the event's most spectacular moments.
The rally is centred on Castiglione dei Pepoli, which hosts the start, service areas, and finish. Saturday's action begins at 18:01 with the opening stage, followed by an overnight halt. Sunday's nine remaining stages commence at 07:30, with the final results announced from 17:00 onwards in Piazza della Libertà.