From top to bottom: Basso (see here on the ERC season-opening Rally Mille Miglia) will be targeting more European Championship points in Madeira as he is also contesting the series with the Spanish D'Ambra team; Basso being interviewed during the Mille Miglia; Anton Alén on his way to fifth place on the Rally Russia - the Finn now makes way for Luca Rossetti in Madeira; Reigning IRC 2WD Cup champion Marco Cavigioli (seen here on the Croatia Delta Rally) will be back behind the wheel of a privately-entered Grande Punto Abarth in Madeira; Bernardo Sousa who is contesting the P-WRC and selected IRC rounds this year (seen here after a crash in Portugal) will be back on his native island this month.

Giandomenico Basso is upbeat after his podium in Russia as he heads for Madeira for the next round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) which gets underway on July 30, where the Italian has two wins and a second place in the last three years and where the Abarth factory challenge for honours will be bolstered by the inclusion of the rapid Luca Rossetti in the line-up.

Basso finished third on the gravel rally in Russia earlier this month to collect his second podium finish of the IRC season which saw him climbing to fourth place in the drivers’ standings, with 17 points compared to Kris Meeke (30), Jan Kopecký (29) and Freddie Loix (24). The Italian now heads for the Rali Vinho Madeira where he can be regarded now as an "island specialist" with two wins in three years (2006 and 2007) and a second place last year when only bad luck stopped him from challenging for a Madeiran hat-trick. In 2005 Basso was cruising to certain victory on the island in a Fiat Punto S1600 when an electrical problem on the final stage agonisingly prized victory from his grasp.

“It's always great to grab some points after such a difficult rally,” said Basso about the Rally Russia where he experienced a few delays before finishing in a very solid third place. “On the second day of the rally we had a water leak and that made us worry about the engine. The balance of the car was not good and we couldn't fix that. Plus I had trouble with punctures and so we need to analyse the data, see what was missing, and use these points to boost our season.” Abarth is currently fourth in the manufacturers’ standings. Its second driver, Anton Alén, was the fifth IRC-registered finisher home in Russia after he restarted under SupeRally regulations following car damage on leg two of the event. He demonstrated his potential by claiming a stage victory. 

Madeira also counts towards the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and after his comfortable win in Bulgaria at the weekend driving a privately entered Grande Punto Abarth the Italian is in a strong position to win the prestigious title which he won in 2006, also at the wheel of the Italian Super 2000 car. Basso now has three maximum points scores from the three ERC counting events he has contested so far this year (Mille Miglia, Ypres and Bulgaria, the second rally which doubled up with his factory IRC programme on the calendar).

Strong support for Basso will come from team mate Rossetti who is being drafted in in place of Alén. After a difficult time recently with the Grand Punto Abarth, the Finnish youngster was dropped for the Belgium Ypres Rally in favour of local specialist Bernd Casier but returned for the Russia Rally which he won two years ago. Following a fight back to fifth place the gravel specialist makes way for Rossetti in Madeira but will return to the Abarth fold for the Sanremo Rally following two further asphalt surface events (Barum and Asturias). Rossetti is the reigning ERC champion and finished fourth in Madeira last year at the wheel of a Peugeot 207 S2000. This year Rossetti is challenging for the Italian Rally championship title and is locked in a neck-to-neck fight with former Abarth factory star Paolo Andreucci (Peugeot 207 S2000).

Two more Grande Abarths in private hands will back up the factory challenge in Madeira. Marco Cavigioli, the reigning IRC 2WD Cup champion has been undertaking a sporadic programme in a Grande Punto Abarth S2000 this year, and fresh from his tenth place finish in Bulgaria at the weekend he will be out in a Trico Motor Sport run car once again.

The fourth Italian S2000 machine on the provisional entry list is that of Bernardo Sousa. The young Madeiran's car will be prepared by Procar and he will be joined in the cockpit by his usual co-driver Jorge Carvalho. Sousa is currently taking part in P-WRC, the World Rally Championship's competition for production specification cars. This will be a comeback to the regional roads and the Madeira Rally for Sousa after he started his career on the island and being the winner of Rally Porto Santo Line two years ago (2007). After that Sousa took part in P-WRC with a Mitsubishi Evo IX before moving to the Italian brand this year. Besides finishing in eighth place in P-WRC last year the Madeiran was also the "Rookie of the Year" with a best result of the season of second place on the Acropolis Rally in Greece. This year Sousa and Carvalho have a sixth place in P-WRC on the Acropolis Rally in the Grande Punto Abarth to their name.