It was the rain that fell heavily in almost all stages of the race the real outsider of the Trofeo Cave di Cusa, the third round of the Italian Historic Car Regularity Championship CIREAS held this weekend in Sicily between Trapani and Agrigento. The competition organized by ASD Cave di Cusa under the patronage of ACI Trapani, which saw about forty cars at the start from Campobello di Mazara, "home of regularity" was won by the duo composed of home Mario Passanante navigated by his wife Annamaria Pisciotta on Fiat 508 C 1937 of FM Franciacorta Motors. The two finished the 65 timed trials with 175 penalties that earned them the lead in the final classification and the third victory of the selective Sicilian event.
It was a very difficult race," explained Passanante, "because we also encountered a lot of mud on the road, which obviously complicates things for us with older cars. I'm very happy, I risked going off the road a couple of times but in the end I enjoyed it like crazy. We had some very strong rivals chasing us. We were probably able to make the difference in the night trials where we made fewer mistakes and managed to keep a certain line and a certain average".
Second on the podium, separated by only 6 penalties, the duo from Campobello composed of Francesco and Giuseppe Di Pietra, father and son always tough on the 1958 Fiat 600 of the 3rd Group of the AMAMS Tazio Nuvolari. Third place went to the crew made up of the doctor from Campobello Giovanni Moceri navigated by the president of ACI Palermo Angelo Pizzuto on a FIAT 508 of 1939 in Group 2 of the Classic Team, just 40 penalties accumulated especially during the night trials. To complete the podium of the 2nd Group the crew composed by Angelo Accardo and Filippo Becchina on FIAT 508 C '38 of Franciacorta Motori. Salvatore Innocenti and Giovanni Ippolito in a Fiat 600 850 Abarth dominated in the 4th Group, while the podium in the 5th Group was won by Giuseppe Maccario and Michele Luciano in a 1970 A112 of the Scuderia Nettuno Bologna, who managed to stay ahead of Franco Vigilante and Vincenzo Morsa in another A112. The Top crew composed of Massimo Bilancieri and Marisa Simeoni completed the podium of the group on their Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV '68 of the Nettuno Bologna team.
Among the less dated cars of the 6th Grouping, local crews were once again in the thick of it, starting with Salvatore Cusumano in his A112 Abarth 58Hp of the Classic Team, literally tailed by Francesco Commare paired with his wife Francesca Trombetta in their 1972 A112 of the Nettuno Bologna stable. Valerio Rimondi and Liana Fava had to manage the generous horsepower of the powerful Porsche 911 S Targa on the slippery Sicilian roads, winning the low step of the podium in the group. At the head of Group 7 was the crew composed of Alfonso and Rocco Tumbarello on a 1971 A112 Abarth of Nettuno Bologna while in the eighth group Francesco and Federico Caro got the better of a 1985 Seat Fura in the ninth group and finally the success of Roberto Ricci and Giacomo Giorgi on a 1990 Y10 of the Grifone team.
Among the teams, Nettuno Bologna stood out thanks to the placings of Maccario and Luciano, Bilancieri and Simeoni and again Fontana and Sircello. Just behind the Classic Team ASD team thanks to the placings of Moceri and Pizzuto and Cusumano.
The caravan of CIREAS followed by modern cars and two trophies, has crossed places of great natural and historical suggestion, from Selinunte to Santa Margherita Belice to Montevago, the city of The Leopard and then again the places of the Belice earthquake from Salaparuta to Gibellina with a passage to the Cretto of Burri. The Cretto di Burri or Cretto di Gibellina is the colloquial name given to the Grande Cretto, a site-specific work of land art created by Alberto Burri between 1984 and 1989 on the site of the old town of Gibellina, which was completely destroyed in the 1968 Belice earthquake. The next appointment with the tricolour of Regularity is scheduled for the weekend of 17 and 18 April at the Valli Biellesi Oasi Zegna.
