Italy win a stepping stone for Suninen?
WRC 2 victor looking ahead to 2017
Andolfi set for R5 opportunity
WRC 3 front-runner Fabio Andolfi is expected to step up to a WRC 2 class car later this year, with an appearance in Hyundai's all-new i20 R5 one possibility.
The Italian is currently second in the WRC 3 standings thanks to a dominating win at Rally Italia Sardegna earlier this month in a Peugeot 208 VTi R2 backed by the Italian motorsport federation, ACI.
Andolfi, 23, has tackled only three rounds compared to the four of championship leader Michel Fabre, who is ahead by 27 points, and he has further WRC 3 outings planned at the forthcoming rounds in Finland, Germany and Spain.
But as Andolfi progresses through his second season in WRC 3, a spokesman at ACI Team Italia revealed that behind the scenes plans were being made to take him onto the next level.
"The target of the Federation is to bring drivers up to WRC 2 and later to World Rally Car level. This year for Fabio there will be maybe one outing in an R5 car and next year the target is to do the whole WRC 2 championship," he said.
While there is no formal comment from the team, wrc.com understands that one option being considered for Andolfi this year is an appearance in Hyundai's R5-spec i20 car at September's Tour de Corse - Rallye de France.
