Second in the MONACO KART CUP, fifth in the most prestigious leg of the WORLD SERIES BY RENAULT raced a few months ago in the streets of THE PRINCIPALITY, Nelson PANCIATICI finished the MONTE CARLO Rally in second place. He drove in the R2 category at the wheel of his CITROEN C2 R2 MAX, wearing SEDIS SYSTEM, the EUROFORMULA driving school, P1 ADVANCED RACEWEAR and RALF TECH watches’ colours.
For his second rally, Nelson faced very difficult road conditions and his first attempt at the MONTE CARLO was pretty eventful with the two specials in BURZET fought out on mixed tyres in snow, thus losing nearly four minutes to the leaders of the R2 category. Best performer though of the R2 with six best times, Nelson Panciatici, who was driving a CITROEN C2 R2 MAX prepped to perfection by the AUTO MECA team under the direction of Philippe BUGALSKI, kept rising to first place until a small gearbox problem hit them in the last stage of the TURINI.
The outcome is all positive for Nelson PANCIATICI who managed to avoid the traps while keeping up a high level of performance throughout the rally.
Nelson PANCIATICI: “What an incredible rally! I really got a kick out of it and some adrenaline rushes like in the SAINT BONNET LE FROID Special or going down the BURZET on mixed tyres in snow, I wasn’t in control of anything anymore. I couldn’t wait to reach the top of the TURINI pass and I wasn’t disappointed. The spectator crush along the roads was incredible, they are dedicated enthusiasts who don’t hesitate to turn up hours beforehand and walk miles in the cold to see us go by, and we want to give them something to make them happy. I took on board the equivalent of several rallies worth of experience and I made good progress with my pace notes even though they are still a bit pessimistic at times. With my engineer, Benjamin, I think we did some good work togethe. He really helped me understand the use of different tyres and how to optimise the behaviour of the car according to the conditions of the road. My heartfelt thanks go to the whole AUTO MECA team and specifically Philippe BUGALSKI who brought in the partners on this project which could not have happened without him. I will now concentrate on endurance racing again but I want to do more rallies so I can progress further in this fantastic discipline.”
René PADOVANI, Nelson’s co-driver, was also very satisfied : “Nelson drove a very good rally, what surprised me the most was his effort management with intense attacks in several specials then slowing the pace a bit, as if he knew he was flirting too much with his limits, mostly with his braking! Compared to the Rallye du VAR he has progressed especially on the loose surfaces and he’s moved to a whole new dimension in his use of the handbrake! I’ve taken part in many rallies but the MONTE CARLO is magical, my only regret is the four minutes we lost in the BURZET which lost us our victory in R2. We will be back for another round and I hope we will be at the start together next year!”
Nelson PANCIATICI will now take the road to the circuits again but he will still try, with René PADOVANI, to take part in a few rallies, where he can fit them into his calendar, and include the French leg of the World Championship, the FRANCE ALSACE rally!
For more information on PANCIATICI, please visit www.nelsonpancia.com.