Gigi fourth
Last updated 12:30, Friday, 23 May 2008
ITALIANS Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini raced to an impressive fourth in their home event, the Rally d'Italia Sardegna.
Their fantastic performance helped the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team edge closer to third in the manufacturers' championship, narrowing the gap to Subaru to just eight points.
Stobart team-mates Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin dusted off some early cobwebs to finish the event a well-earned 12th.
The pair struggled with small set-up issues on Friday morning losing a large chunk of time but were able to battle their way back to a solid position by the end.
Galli's form was on-song right from the start and even though he picked up a puncture on stage two, his Pirelli tyres held up well until the end of the stage and he lost just 70 seconds.
Galli (pictured above) said: "It's been a good finish to my home event. I was a bit disappointed on the first day after the puncture but Malcolm Wilson [team director] told me that I could still be fourth and the chief was right.”
Matthew Wilson said: "We've had a few different problems on this rally and it's definitely one we need to but behind us and move on.
“We just weren't able to get a good feeling with the car and in this sport once you lose time it is very difficult to get it back again.”
