Monza Rally: Kubica beats Rossi

Robert Kubica

Former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica beat MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi to victory in the annual non-championship Monza Rally.

Monza was a straight fight from the outset between Kubica and three-time winner Valentino Rossi, also driving a Fiesta.

In mixed conditions, Kubica opened up a small advantage on the two stages of the opening evening, but the Pole fell behind during Saturday, not helped by a tire choice that he felt was too hard.

Having started the final day seven seconds behind Rossi, he won both of Sunday's stages – the final one by 17s – to put the result beyond doubt.

"Getting the tire choice right was one of the biggest challenges," said Kubica, who was partnered by Italian co-driver Alessandra Benedetti.

"Because the conditions were changing all the time and never the same on different parts of the track, it was often hard to know what to do.

"On the final stage we were on the same tires as Valentino and I saw at our first split that we were already quite a bit faster than him, for some reason he was slower than he had been before.

"So I knew that if we could keep going at the same pace we had a very good chance to win."

Other stars taking part in the Monza-based event included Gymkhana ace Ken Block, who was classified 29th after losing time with a navigational error.

That was four places ahead of 2004 NASCAR Cup champion Kurt Busch, as the American made his rally debut. Autosport

Masters Show Results – a standalone event run over a single stage at the end of the rally – was also won by Kubica from Rossi, in heavy rain. Busch finished 14th in this.