Factory Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso battled his way right back up the leaderboard after early problems cost him time to finish a superb second on the Rally San Crispino-Terre di Romagna and in doing so maintain his advantage in the Italian Rally Championship (CIR).

Giandomenico Basso arrived at the 20th Rally San Crispino-Terre di Romagna this weekend boosted by a very comfortable victory in the last round of the CIR, the 27th Rally San Martino di Castrozza, where he was largely untroubled on his way to a maximum points haul, his latest title challenger, Luca Rossetti in the quick new Super2000 Peugeot 207 machine finishing a distant second. This helped stretched Basso's title lead to 44 points, giving him a 6 point cushion over Rossetti and 7 points over reigning CIR champion Paolo Andreucci (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 38. These three are the only realistic remaining CIR title contenders as Luca Cantamessa (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) in fourth has 24 points, and Andrea Aghini (Subaru Impreza) in fourth is on just 18.

This year's 20th edition of the Rally San Crispino-Terre di Romagna was also the seventh round of the CIR and would be made up of 15 stages (9 on leg one and 6 on leg two) with 151.2 km being timed out of a total rally driving distance of 780 km. Following Basso's easy win on the last CIR round on asphalt and Anton Alen's victory on the gravel tracks of the Rally Russia on the last IRC round, the potent Super2000 Grande Punto Abarth is the in-form car to beat on all surfaces. Up against the factory-run Italian machine would be all Basso's title rivals Rossetti (Peugeot), Andreucci (Mitsubishi), Cantamessa (Mitsubishi) and Aghini (Subaru).

However after setting down his marker by finishing second to Andreucci on the first stage of the rally Basso almost immediately hit technical problems, losing 15 seconds on SS2, the deficit growing to more than a minute by the end of the next stage. The Abarth factory mechanics then had to frantically replace mechanical parts at the first allocated service park of the rally, and they completed the task superbly inside the 15 minutes of allocated time, keeping Basso from incurring any additional penalties. However he was 1:12.8 off Andreucci and way down the leaderboard in 28th position; the prospect of a real fight back was in his hands.

Basso posted fastest time on SS7, the 14.49 km 'Talamello 3' stage, as he quickly made up ground, and by the end of the nine-stage first leg he had climbed back up to 11th place on the classification, 1 minute 12.8 seconds off the overall rally lead which was held by one of his closest title rivals, Andreucci (Mitsubishi), who went into overnight parc ferme as the rally leader, and with a comfortable 26.9 second lead over second placed Piero Longhi (Subaru). 39.6 seconds off the rally lead was Andrea Dallavilla (Mitsubishi) in third.
 

Davide Gatti in the factory-run turbodiesel Grande Punto Abarth 1.9 Multijet though retired on the last stage of the day (SS9) while running in 39th position.

The six-stage programme that comprised leg 2 saw Basso in truly unstoppable form, the Italian going 14.4 seconds faster than any other runner on the 16.45 km opening stage (SS10) to move rapidly up to fifth. On the next test (SS11) he was again fastest and moved one place further to third. On SS12 he again went quickest, and climbed into second place, but 39.9 seconds of Andreucci who still led the rally. Despite being fastest again on SS13 and then SS14 this gap was quite insurmountable and so Basso backed off on the rally's final stage with a now 25.2 second gap to Andreucci who had led the entire event from the very first stage. With 8 points in the bag the reigning European and IRC champion was very satisfied with all his efforts to vault his way back the leaderboard and into a very impressive second place overall.

Basso's points helping for his second place finish serve to keep him firmly on top of the CIR standings, with 52 points, four ahead of his now closest rival Andreucci who took 2 points out of Basso's lead thanks to his win. Importantly, the Grande Punto Abarth driver was able to increase his advantage over Rossetti to a healthy 9 points. The Peugeot 207 driver was passed by Basso on the classification during his fight back on day two and the youngster eventually finished fifth and now slips below Andreucci in the title chase.

There is now a month's break before next round of the CIR, the Rally Alpi Orientali in Udine, takes place from 30 Aug-1 Sep. However before that event Basso will be in action next week on the Rali Vinho da Madeira as he has been drafted into Abarth's Intercontinental Rally Challenge team to support the efforts of Andrea Navarra in his quest for the title of the series that Basso won last year. Basso bring great experience of the fast asphalt roads of the Atlantic island and will be out to defend his 2006 victory there.

Rally San Crispino-Terra di Romagna - Result: 1. Andreucci-Andreussi (Mitsubishi) in 1h50'57"8; 2. Basso-Dotta (Grande Punto Abarth) + 24"1; 3. Aghini-Cerrai (Subaru) a 44"9; 4. Rossetti-Chiarcossi (Peugeot) + 45"; 5. Longhi-Imerito (Subaru) + 49".

Italian Rally Championship Classification (after 7 rounds): 1.Basso (Grande Punto Abarth) 52 points; 2. Andreucci (Mitsubishi) 48; 3. Rossetti (Peugeot) 43; 4. Cantamessa (Mitsubishi) 25; 5. Aghini (Subaru) 24.