The tenth and final round of the 2007 FIA European Rally Championship gets underway early this afternoon with the start of leg one of the 42nd Rallye d'Antibes in France, and with Grande Punto Abarth S2000 pilot Volkan Işık beginning his bid to win the prestigious title. Işık, who drives for the Fiat Motorsports Turkey team, has put himself in a very strong position to claim the series after winning the last round of the ERC, the ELPA Rally in Greece earlier this month.

The maximum 16 point score that Işık collected in Greece has bounced him right into contention with one round remaining. He is now on 48 points after nine rounds, just one shy of Simon Jean-Joseph (49 points). However it will be a tough battle. Jean-Joseph, who starts at #1 is on his home soil and, unlike Işık who is seeded at #2, as a former French rally champion he knows the fast asphalt roads in the mountains above the Côte d'Azur very well. Işık prefers loose surfaces, but on the ELPA Rally the Turkish star demonstrated an impressive turn of speed on the all-asphalt first leg. Jean-Joseph will be once again at the wheel of the quick and nimble, two-wheel drive Citroën C2 S1600, while Isik has the more powerful Super2000 category compliant Grande Punto Abarth under his feet. Also in with a shot at the title is Bulgarian Dimitar Iliev (43 points), who starts at #3, and who led the ERC points classification during the first half of the season but who has failed to pick up any points whatsoever during the last three rounds.

The all-asphalt 42nd edition of the Rallye d'Antibes will be an ideal setting for the championship's finale with fine weather often making the Côte d'Azur a very pleasant part of the world to be in at this time of year. That said, although the conditions promise to be mild on the Riviera, they could well spring a surprise or two up in the mountains where the stages take place. The programme includes three long legs.
 

Each of these legs features two loops of three stages. These stages include some of the region's awesome classics such as the Turini, the Col de Bleine, Couillole and the Col de l'Ablé.

"It's like a Monte Carlo Rally run in the autumn," jokes Simon Jean-Joseph who benefits from vast experience of these tests which offer remarkable variety since they range from wide, fast and smooth (SS8/12, SS14/17) to twisty and bumpy (SS7/10, SS13/16). "The Rallye d'Antibes is a very difficult event," continues the Citroën driver. "There are more than 300km of stages, some of which will be run at night. I can't wait to have a go at the Col de Bleine in the dark! Some of the stages are technically very demanding and the experience Jack and I have of them is obviously good for us. We also know that we will be able to count on the speed and reliability of the Citroën C2 Super 1600 on asphalt."

There will be more Abarth interest as two ERC regulars this year will also be in action in France: Pole Michal Solowow starts at #6 in a Grande Punto Abarth run by the Cersanit Rally Team and Italian Corrado Fontana is seeded at #7 in a similar Grifone-run example. Solowow is mathematically still in the ERC title hunt, eight points behind Jean-Joseph, but the Pole would require victory, and no points scores from the French series leader, and a similar no points from Işık, plus a very low score from Iliev, to be in with a shout of snatching an unlikely title. Finally, Frenchman Philippe Mermet, who will start at #9, will add further spice to the Abarth mix.