I have written these words before. I might write them again. Italian rallying has been stuck in a bit of a rut when it comes to world championship level drivers and the same question has loomed like a dark cloud over the Apennine peninsula: where is the next Miki Biasion? The next Paolo Andreucci?
We still don’t know yet – but Andreucci, the 11-time Italian national champion, is rolling his sleeves up and working to fix the problem.
Andreucci was present at last year’s season-ending Monza Rally Show bash that lured some of the World Rally Championship’s biggest names to Italy in December. But he wasn’t there to drive – he was there to mentor. Under his wing is a driver with one clear target for 2025: win the WRC3 title.
This is an unusual goal. Matteo Fontana is at a prime age to enter Junior WRC and follow the same path as the most successful drivers of the modern age: Sébastiens Loeb and Ogier, Elfyn Evans, Dani Sordo, Craig Breen and Sami Pajari all won the coveted title on their way to the top level. Steering clear of it looks odd from the outside. But he’s convinced his plan to target WRC3, not Juniors, is the right one.
As well as competing at home (pictured), Fontana has favored WRC3 over Junior WRC
“We have three Rally3 cars in our team so we can do tests,” explains Fontana. “It’s our team so we can program what we want with testing and events.
“Also doing the Junior [championship] is not necessary. If we want to win the WRC3 title, we have to be in front of the Juniors anyway – so when we are competing, the battle is the same. We have the same car.”
To an extent Fontana’s already achieved that goal. There was high drama during the Junior finale on Acropolis Rally Greece last season, with the destiny of the drivers’ title changing several times as its protagonists shifted up and down the leaderboard and ran into various issues. Romet Jürgenson stole the headlines that weekend by clinching the crown – but none of the Juniors won the rally in WRC3, the umbrella championship for all Rally3 entrants.
Fontana did. And he’s hoping the manufacturer teams took notice.
“I think they are looking at us, but I’m not sure about this,” says Fontana. “But I think it’s the victory in Greece. Everybody sent me a message, so it was really good.
“It was very, very difficult, but… I think it’s a race where it’s not always the fastest that wins. It’s the cleverest. You have to slow down a little bit at some points and push another.”
There are upsides to swerving the Juniors. Fontana won’t get the limelight for succeeding if he wins in quite the same way – but he seems unperturbed by the thought of missing the headlines. It’s a process he’s followed for a while now.
Stepping up from Rally3 is a target, but not yet
Despite being just 21 he already has 18 WRC starts to his name – mostly in a front-wheel-drive Peugeot 208 Rally4. It’s as if he’s trying to sneak up on the WRC – learning quietly in the background and waiting for the right moment to step into the spotlight.
“With WRC3 we can do something more with the setup because we can make more changes,” he explains. “We can learn much more than in the Junior WRC. I think Junior is a very good choice considering the price, but it’s not what we are looking for now.”
Fontana was at last December’s Monza Rally show in a Rally2-spec Toyota GR Yaris, co-driven by his 75-year old grandfather Luigi. WRC runs in the family: Luigi still competes in the driver’s seat with an i20 WRC, as does his father Corrado. WRC3 is the target for 2025 but Luigi is already daring to think ahead.
“We don’t want to stop now and we don’t want to pass straight to the Rally2 car,” says the youngest generation of the Fontana clan. “This is only a race with my granddad, just to have fun and try to feel the car a little bit. We’ll try to do something with the Rally2 – but only when we will be ready. Not now because we have to do some work with the Rally3.”
For now, WRC3 beckons: ”We are taking it step by step, we don’t want to run too fast.”
Just as well. Italian fans have been waiting a while for their next protagonist at world championship level. They’re going to have to wait a bit longer. But with Andreucci’s helping hand, Fontana is working on it.
