 |
|
Giandomenico Basso
goes into the final day of the Rally
Principe de Asturias with a slender lead at
the front after a fast and furious final few
stages that saw the factory Abarth pilot
wrest the advantage away from the Skoda
drivers. |
|
|
|
 |
|
Miguel Fuster, who has drafted into the
factory Abarth squad for this event to
provide his local knowledge and experience
(he is a former two-time Spanish Rally
Champion and Abarth Grande Punto regular)
had little luck on the opening leg. |
|
|
|
 |
|
In the 2WD Cup, Denis Millet
has consolidated his early lead to stand 36.8 seconds clear of
title rival Fiat Punto S1600 driver Manuel Villa (above)
at the end of leg one, bolstering Peugeot's chances
in the manufacturers' standings. |
|
|
|
Giandomenico Basso
goes into the final day of the 46th Rally
Principe de Asturias, the ninth round of the
Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) with a
slender lead at the front after a fast and
furious final few stages that saw the factory
Abarth pilot wrest the advantage away from the
Skoda drivers. Basso – who won this event in
2008 – will set off this morning into the second
leg's final loop of six stages with an
8.2 second advantage over local hero Alberto Hevia’s Skoda
Fabia S2000.
The Italian was in the thick of action all through
yesterday' opening leg, never posting a time outside the
top-three, and starting off on the short SS1 first thing in
morning with second quickest time. Second quickest on SS2
however bumped him down a place to third overall although a
third fastest scratch time on SS3 saw him back into second
place as the Peugeots in particular see-sawed on the time
sheets following issues with the Super 2000 207s that saw
then collecting punctures. Third quickest for Basso on SS4
dropped him back down to third overall. Basso went third
fastest on SS5 to hold station before posting his first
fastest time of the day on SS6, although it still kept him
in third place.
The experienced Italian turned in another
fastest time on SS7 and this dramatically handed him the
rally lead, and while SS8 was cancelled, third fastest on
the last stage of the day (SS9) saw Basso go into overnight
parc ferme with 8.2 seconds in hand over Hevia. Hevia, returning to top-flight competition
after almost a full year out, has been a revelation
throughout the weekend and was Basso's key challenger
for the rally lead all day. However the Skoda driver struggled with mechanical
difficulties in the last two stages of the day and this
helped Basso cement his advantage. Winning day one also
helped Basso in his push for FIA European Rally Championship
points as these are handed down at the end of each day to
the top-three registered drivers in the order of 3-2-1
points and with Corrado Fontana (Peugeot) squeezing ahead of
championship points leader Michael Solowow (Peugeot) it
means Basso chips two points off the Pole's advantage.
Basso's team mate for the event, Miguel
Fuster, who had been drafted into the factory squad for this
rally to provide his local knowledge and experience (he is a
former two-time Spanish Rally Champion and Abarth Grande
Punto regular) had little luck on the opening leg. He had
settled in nicely with sixth quickest time on the first
stage, but on SS2 he suffered brake failure on the stage
which ran from Pajonal through Carbayín to La Rasa and he
crashed, blocking the stage which was cancelled. Fuster's
departure left Basso as the only Abarth Grande Punto S2000
still remaining in the rally.
In third place
overnight and closing in fast on the top two is the factory
Skoda of Czech driver Jan Kopecký, who needs to
maximise his points haul in Asturias as 2009 IRC title
rival Kris Meeke struggles to win back time lost to a
puncture in his Peugeot UK-entered 207 S2000. The gap
between the two men is down to three points after
Kopecky’s rapturous home victory in the Czech Republic
last month, and both Basso and Freddy Loix remain in
striking distance of the title as well.
Fontana holds fourth place overall at the
overnight halt after the Proton of Guy Wilks suffered a
transmission problem at the start of SS9 and picked up a
puncture while driving through the stage. Meanwhile both
of the Benelux Peugeots of Loix and defending IRC
champion Nicolas Vouilloz have joined Meeke in being
slowed by punctures.
The final IRC points-winning position is also held by a
Peugeot driver at the overnight halt, as Solowow chases the top men.
In the IRC 2WD Cup, Denis Millet
has consolidated his early lead to stand 36.8 seconds clear of
title rival Fiat Punto S1600 driver Manuel Villa but the
end of the first leg, bolstering Peugeot's chances
in the manufacturers' standings. Millet drew first blood
on SS1, taking the stage by 9.3 seconds from his Italian
rival. On SS2 the stage-blocking accident of Fuster ensured
that neither driver could post a time, then on SS3 Villa
blasted back to take the lead by 1.4 seconds. Millet then
went through SS4 a full 16 seconds quicker than Villa, who
responded by taking almost 5 seconds out of the Frenchman’s
advantage on SS5 and clawing back a further 1.8 seconds on
SS6 and then 1.3 seconds on SS7. SS8 was cancelled but on
the final stage of the day, SS6, Millet went through a
disheartening 20.5 seconds faster than Villa to extend his
advantage to more than half a minute.
Six more special stages
will form today’s closing day before the surviving crews
return to the host
city of Oviedo at 16:00 CET.
46th Rally Principe de Asturias - provisional
positions at the end of Leg 1:
1 Basso (I) – Abarth - +1hr 40m 15.9s
2 Hevia (E) – Skoda – +8.2s
3 Kopecky (CZ) – Skoda - +10.4s
4 Fontana (I) – Peugeot - +2m 15.3s
5 Vouilloz (F) – Peugeot - +2m 27.3s
6 Loix (B) – Peugeot - +2m 50.0s
7 Meeke (UK) – Peugeot - +3m 2.9s
8 Solowow (PL) – Peugeot - +4m 9.3s
|
