Here's the thing about backing up a championship: doing it once can look like a brilliant alignment of the stars, but defending it? That takes pure, relentless pace. Alongside co-driver Alessandro Arnaboldi, Fontana successfully defended his 2025 crown aboard a Ford Fiesta Rally3, proving last year's breakthrough at FORUM8 Rally Japan was no fluke.
Their path to the title was built on masterclasses across completely different surfaces. The machine carried them to victories in Sweden, Portugal and Greece, racking up the results needed to seal the deal. But the season's wildest moment happened far away from the points paying comfort zone, right on the iconic tarmac of Rallye Monte-Carlo. There, the pair somehow topped the outright times on two stages, putting their Fiesta Rally3 ahead of the championship's leading machinery in an absolute stunner of a performance.
For Fontana, repeating that success was an important measure of the pair's progress. As he put it after securing the title: “Our goal was to become a benchmark for the category, and this result confirms that. But we’re not stopping here.”
True to those words, the next chapter has already begun. On home soil at Rally Italia Sardegna, Fontana and Arnaboldi made their WRC2 debut stepping up to a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. It proved a demanding introduction, with an off-road excursion interrupting their Saturday. Fontana nevertheless came away with a clearer understanding of the category’s pace and the work needed on car set-up and confidence.
Now, the double WRC3 champion is wasting no time. His immediate plans include completing his Italian gravel championship campaign and competing at Rally Como, adding further experience as he tackles the next rung of the ladder.
