Olbia, October 22nd, 2023
The Italian Motorally 2023 Championship ends in the best way for the Fantic Racing Team, which dominated the three days of the Sandalion Rally in Sardinia with its two official riders, Tommaso Montanari and Alex Salvini.
Montanari won both on Friday (valid for the Italian Raid TT Championship) and Sunday's race, proving that he has reached a perfect feeling with his Fantic XEF 450 Rally after his recent experience in the World Rally Championship in Morocco, while on Saturday, it was Alex Salvini who dominated. The rider from Bologna could not repeat himself on Sunday due to a small technical problem with the bike.
In the Marathon class, an excellent performance by Gianluca Marchetto, who, after a fifth place on Saturday, took his Fantic XEF Rally to the podium on Sunday with a third place.
Alex Salvini: "Super positive weekend for Fantic. I would say great, with three absolute victories out of three days of competition: the first with Tommaso Montanari, the second with me, and the third again with Tommaso. Unfortunately, I had a technical problem on Sunday at the start of the first special and could not complete the day. On Friday, I struggled to find my rhythm and finished sixth overall with a few mistakes, but on the second day, the most difficult one, with very long special stages, I managed to win, and it was very nice. I ended this first season in Motorally with a positive balance: I think I was the rider with the most overall wins on the day (five, although then, due to penalties, they became three), a result that exceeded my expectations. I thank the whole Fantic Team for this; we did a great job, and see you next year."
Tommaso Montanari: "The race went very well with two perfect days in which I made the overall going very fast, while on Saturday, I made a small navigational error that cost me dearly. Considering the few hours I have been riding the XEF 450, I immediately felt good with the bike. I'm also happy with my fitness because I had just come from five days of competition in the World Rally Championship in Morocco, and despite only one day's rest, I went fast straight away. Now we are preparing for the Dakar!"
