Giandomenico Basso in the new Super2000 category Fiat Grande Punto Rally finished fourth overall on the 63rd Rally of Poland yesterday to move into a clear lead in the 2006 FIA European Rally Championship after three events. The Italian came to the event tied on 10 points with N.technology team mate Paolo Andreucci, but leaves Poland having run impressively on the gravel surface of the rally and having safely gained 5 more championship points.

Basso was pleased with the result and the competitiveness of the car, the Fiat driver having targeted a good haul of points and a strong finish which would allow the team to further learn about the new rally car on loose surfaces. "Overall I really like the rally. I think the special stages are very technical, but still fast," said Basso during the pre-event press conference. "The first day of competition will be easier, because on the second leg there are lots of jumps. This is my first rally in a 4x4 on gravel. But I still intend to battle for European Championship points. This year there are many strong Polish drivers who will be very hard to beat. But I have to point out that the car I have has been performing excellently so far. The car is very fast, it’s won five out of the six rallies it has entered. As far as the engine profile is concerned, it is similar to the Punto S1600. Of course the Punto Abarth S2000 has much more power. The car’s well-balanced and it drives wonderfully."

The Fiat factory driver finished the opening leg in fourth place overall as several crews with strong local knowledge and driving turbocharged four wheel drive GpN machines contested the overall lead. "I’m very pleased," said Basso at Parc Ferme. "To be honest I hadn’t counted on taking such a high position. After all I’m learning the handling of a new car the whole time. I’m trying hard especially to understand its behaviour on gravel," he added.
 

Basso, who had regular co-driver Mitia Dotta alongside him, comfortably held onto fourth place through the tricky second leg to help himself to 5 further championship points as the crews rolled across the finish line yesterday afternoon. Leszek Kuzaj and co-driver Maciej Szczepaniak though won the Platinum 63rd Rally Poland overall, which as well as being the third round of the FIA European Rally Championship was also the third round of the Polish Rally Championship. The Subaru Impreza crew sped across the line with a 51.5 second advantage over the runners-up in the overall classification, Oscar Svedlund and Bjorn Nilsson. The Swedes successfully held off the attacks by the event’s first leaders, Michal Solowow and Maciej Baran driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. After taking two punctures on special stage 8, the Kielce-Kraków duo crossed the final line in third place, trailing the winners by 25.6 seconds. Thanks to their victory Leszek Kuzaj and Maciej Szczepaniak are well ahead in the classifications for the Polish Rally Championship.

The undisputed winners in the A6 class were Kris Meeke and Glenn Patterson. Driving a Citroen C2-R2, the British crew won a total of 9 out of the 12 special stages in their class. The other three stages went to Sebastian Frycz and Bartlomiej Boba in their Fiat Punto, making them the fastest in the Super 1600 class. Frycz and Boba finished the rally 34.1 seconds ahead of Michal Kosciuszko and Jaroslaw Baran (Suzuki Swift), who remain in the lead in the Super 1600 classifications.

The Platinum 63rd Rally Poland has already gone down in history. With beautiful hot and sunny weather prevalent throughout the weekend, the competitors raced over 12 gravel special stages, not one of which was cancelled. Neither was the assistance of medical or rescue services required at all. In addition large numbers spectators congregating along the route.