Giandomenico Basso, at the wheel of the Fiat Grande Punto Rally, will be looking to give the new Super2000 contender its first success on gravel and build up a clear FIA European Rally Championship' points lead when he rolls down the start ramp of the 63th Rally of Poland this morning. In the process the new Fiat machine will face possibly its toughest opposition to date with a swage of turbocharged GpN rally cars and rapid, experienced drivers' up again the N.technology team.

Basso and team mate Paolo Andreucci, both factory N.technology drivers lead the 2006 FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) after two rounds. Both Italians have 10 points - the first for winning the Mille Miglia Rally and the latter after dominating Fiat Rally in Istanbul, Turkey. The Fiat Grande Punto Rally S2000, the new rally weapon of the Turin manufacturer, is certainly the car to beat in the European Rally Championship this. It is the main representative of a new Super 2000 class, in which four-wheel-drive cars equipped with normally aspirated engines (no turbochargers) compete against one another.

Paolo Andreucci took a solid win during 30th Rally Mille Miglia – the opening round of ERC season. Driving through special stages near Brescia, the Fiat Punto S2000 driver was almost ninety seconds faster than second paced finisher Luca Cantamesa in a Group N Subaru Impreza. Third place went to Sandro Sottile in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. As in previous years, the Italians were very ‘inhospitable’ for foreign drivers. The first non-Italian reaching the finish was Enrique Garcia in his Peugeot 206 S1600. The Spanish driver took ninth place with a huge eight-minute margin to Andreucci. Surprisingly enough, in the thirty years of rally’s history, famous for its narrow mountain roads, dozens of hairpins, blind corners and treacherous places, only one driver from outside of Italy managed to win it. It was Portugal’s Miguel Campos (Peugeot 206 WRC) who triumphed in 2003 edition of the event.

The second round of the European Rally Championship, the Fiat Rally in Turkey, was held three weeks after Mille Miglia. As in Italy, the victory was taken by Fiat Punto S2000 Abarth driver. This time, however, it was the turn Basso – last year’s runner up of the series, who had retired on the Rally Mille Miglia. "It was a fantastic race”, enthused Basso at the end of the rally. “We won on roads we had never seen before because, compared to last season, the special stages were all different. I am very pleased for the precious points we won, but I am also very pleased for the Grande Punto, which was fast and impeccable. I am pleased because we are leading the championship."
 

"And I am pleased because we have taken the Grande Punto to success in its first rally outside Italy. Mitia Dotta and I are really proud: in all my career as a driver I have only driven Fiats and this win is magic," he added.

Andreucci didn’t enter the Istanbul based event as he is concentrating for Fiat on the Italian Rally Championship, to which the Rally Mille Miglia also counted, leaving the fight for the ERC title this year in the hands of team mate Basso. Of the crews who entered Rally Mille Miglia, only Michał Sołowow and Maciej Baran (Renault Clio S1600) appeared in Turkey. Basso led the rally from start to finish. After all he won 13 of the 21 tarmac special stages. Behind him came Turkish veteran driver Volkan Isik in a Fiat Punto S1600. In the end, Sołowow and Baran finished the race in 10th place. Third overall Ercan Kazaz (Subaru Impreza N11) dominated the Group N category.

Giandomenico Basso and Paolo Andreucci now are joint leaders of the European Rally Championship. The first one is due to appear in Mikolajki during Platinum 63 Rally Poland. It means Polish rally fans will have the first opportunity to see a brand new Fiat Punto Super 2000 in action. 76 crews, including 17 from abroad, are on the entry list for the event. Top names aside from Basso, include Oscar Svedlund of Sweden, Dimitar Iliev of Bulgaria and Kris Meeke of Great Britain. The cream of Poland’s rally drivers will also be at Mikołajki, with Polish champion Leszek Kuzaj and last year’s rally winner Krzysztof Hołowczyc. Competitors representing thirteen countries will be racing along the stretches of this third round of the European and Polish Rally Championship which is also FIA World Rally Championship candidate. The cars entered for the race are mainly Mitsubishi (18) and Subaru (17) with their Lancer and Impreza models. Peugeot is also well represented (19), mainly by the cup-winning 206 XS.

Basso will thrill the local fans in the Fiat Grande Punto Rally, in the S2000 class. Based around the Fiat Grande Punto model, the new car boasts a four-wheel drive and a two-litre atmospheric engine providing 270bhp. On the gravel roads of the Mazurian Lake District it could prove a serious rival for Mitsubishi and Subaru. The battle promises to be particularly exciting between the Italian driver from the Fiat factory team, Poland’s top drivers, the sensational Oscar Svedlund winner of last year’s Rally Poland and Dimitar Iliev who has already done well in several Polish and World Championship rallies.

The route of the Platinum 63 Rally Poland covers 705 kilometres, with twelve special stages covering almost 260 km. The opening ceremony for the rally will be held on Friday 9 June at 18:30 in the centre of Mikołajki. Action begins in the morning on Saturday 10 June. On the first day crews will face 6 tests covering 119 km. The second leg also comprises six special stages, covering 139 km. The longest test of the rally (Paprotki) is 34.44 km long, and the shortest (Sołdany) – 10.38 km. The first crew is expected at the finish in Mikołajki on Sunday 11 June at 16:51. The centre for the Platinum 63 Rally Poland is the Rally Park, organised for the first time in Poland, situated right next to the Gołębiewski Hotel in Mikołajki.