Italian team doesn’t know ‘how we’ll get home’ from México

Motorsport Italia says return flights have been cancelled as coronavirus restrictions take hold

Motorsport Italia Rally Mexico

The Motorsport Italia team does not yet know when it will be allowed to travel back to its northern Italian base after this week’s Rally México.

Based out of Como, north of Milan and close to the border with Switzerland, the team is being affected by the coronavirus outbreak and restrictions in place in Italy.

Team principal Bruno di Pianta talked of the complications of getting his team to León for Rally México and the bigger headache of getting them home.

“Here in México, we have everything we need,” di Pianta told DirtFish. “OK, we have 95% what we need.

“We sent everything out in January. Still some of the people I am expecting to arrive on Wednesday, I don’t think they [can] come now.

“On the way out here, I had to change the guys’ flights three times to make sure we could get here. Going home, they already cancelled our return flights.

“I don’t know how we will go home.”

The death toll in Italy from the coronavirus rose to 463 on Monday, and emergency measures in response to the outbreak, which include travel restrictions and a ban on public gatherings, have now been rolled out nationwide.

“Everything is crazy in Italy,” added di Pianta. “The situation is changing every day.

“The mind is up and down between back home and here. Here, like I say, we have what we need and I’m relaxed for that – it’s always nice to be in México and the welcome here from the people has been fantastic.

“But at home, I don’t know.”

Motorsport Italia is running Brazilian driver Paulo Nobre’s Škoda Fabia R5 in WRC3 this week.

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