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ABARTH GRANDE PUNTO S2000 - 34TH RALLY 1000 MIGLIA 2010

Giandomenico Basso's (top) bad luck struck again on the final day of the 34th Rally 1000 Miglia, and the Abarth factory driver tumbled away from the fight for victory to finish fifth while his team mate Luca Rossetti (middle and bottom) was second.

The two privately-entered Abarth Grande Puntos on the rally both impressed before hitting problems: Luca Cantamessa (top) finished twelfth after final day mechanical gremlins while veteran Gianfranco Cunico (bottom), on his rallying comeback at the age of 52 in the other privately-entered Scorpion S2000 car, crashed out on the final stage of Day 1 after a fighting drive.

The 34th Rally 1000 Miglia was the first round of the inaugural "Trofeo Abarth 500" a new one-make series reserved for the tiny Abarth 500 R3T rally machine. Three reached the finish line after many thrills and spills.

Giandomenico Basso's bad luck struck again on the final day of the 34th Rally 1000 Miglia, and the Abarth factory driver tumbled away from the fight for victory, although the Italian was able to salvage fifth place. Basso suffered two punctures on the final day, the first costing him 30 seconds, while the second forced him to stop and change the wheel on the stage, before mechanical problems set in. However he held second place until SS11, before agonisingly dropping down and then losing fourth place on the last stage of the rally which finished on Saturday evening in his ailing Abarth Grande Punto. Team-mate Luca Rossetti, after suffering from poor tyre choices on the first leg, was able to maintain a very strong rhythm throughout the final day to step into Basso's shoes and claim second place.

Luca Cantamessa, in the sole surviving private Abarth Grande Punto (veteran Gianfranco Cunico, on his rallying comeback at the age of 52 in the other privately-entered Scorpion S2000 car, having crashed out on the final stage of Day 1 after an impressive drive), also hit problems on yesterday's final leg but eventually finished twelfth, while on the first round of the inaugural ‘Trofeo Abarth 500’, a very comfortable victory in the one-make class was claimed by Roberto Vescovi and Giancarla Guizzi in the tiny new Abarth 500 R3T ‘grassroots’ machine. Only three of these exciting new rallycars were around at the finishline.

The 34th Rally 1000 Miglia counted for both the opening round of the 2010 Italian Rally Championship (CIR) and the 2010 FIA European Rally Championship (ERC). With victory and 10 points going to former Fiat factory driver Paolo Andreucci in the official Racing Lions 207 S2000, Rossetti picks up 8 points in the CIR standings for second place, while Basso collects 4 points for fifth place. With Andreucci not registered for ERC points, Rossetti takes the lead with 37 points – but thanks to an additional 7 points (awarded for leading the ERC classification at the end of the first leg), Basso takes a decent 19-point haul away from the rally, and now lies in fourth place in the standings after one round, separated from Rossetti at the top of the points table by Renato Travaglia (26 points) and Elwis Chentre (20 points).

The highly experienced Andreucci, co-driven as usual by Anna Andreussi, won the hard-fought rally on Saturday night after holding onto the lead ever since the very first special stage of Friday morning, SS2, which was the only test (out of a total fourteen) that he actually won overall. Despite the lack of overall stage wins, it was a controlled performance, and he was able to steer clear of the problems that beset his rivals. Although Basso closed the gap down to just 4.7 seconds at the end of the first leg, the Abarth driver’s final-day misfortunes left the Peugeot driver with a manageable gap to Rossetti, who calmly took over leading out the Abarth challenge. The gap was 44.6 seconds at the line, while the final podium step was claimed by Travaglia/Granai (Peugeot 207 S2000), the experienced crew 1 minute and 43.5 seconds away from the rally winner. Next up was Elwis Chentre driving a Vieffecorse-run Peugeot 207 S2000 who took an excellent fourth place, 3 minutes and 29.7 seconds off Andreucci at the end of what was his ‘apprenticeship’ rally. The Aostan driver has stepped up to the CIR this year after winning the ‘Trofeo Rally Asfalto’ last year.

Behind Basso in sixth place was Alessandro Perico (Peugeot 207 S2000), ahead of three more of the French Super 2000 machines, driven by Rudy Michelini, Luca Betti and Corrado Fontana, while Jan Kopecky closed out the top-ten in a Fabia S2000 entered by Skoda Italia. Problems beset many drivers on a rally made more difficult by changing weather conditions – Piero Longhi retired on Friday's first leg with a double puncture, Cunico in an Abarth Grande Punto crashed out, Marco Signor suffered an accident and a broken axle shaft on leg one but restarted on Saturday morning under the ‘Superally’ rule, Eddie Sciessere had an accident on Friday in his new Ford Fiesta S2000, Tobia Cavallini suffered several punctures, and Cantamessa in the other Abarth S2000 machine was slowed by mechanical problems during the final leg. Andrea Dallavilla, who was returning to rallying this weekend after a year’s break, suffered gearbox and clutch problems on Friday. A very good performance was put in by Renault's Polish F1 driver Robert Kubica (Renault Clio S1600) despite suffering gearbox problems, while the young Stefano Albertini did well to win both the Junior Class and ‘Renault Clio Top’ Trophy.

With over a hundred entries, the 34th Rally 1000 Miglia was a complete success from both a sporting and organisational perspective. Amongst other successes, it claimed a world record with regard to the number of Super 2000 cars at the startline (25, out of 101 participant cars), while it was also featured live on Italian TV.

34th Rally 1000 Miglia (FIA European Rally Championship, Rd 1/Italian Rally Championship, Rd 1), Final Classification

1. Andreucci/Andreussi (Peugeot 207 S2000) in 2h58’39 ; 2. Rossetti/Chiarcossi (Abarth Grande Punto S2000) + 44”6 ; 3. Travaglia/Granai (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 1’43”5 ; 4. Chentre/Pogliano (Peugeot 207 Super 2000) + 3’29”7 ; 5. Basso/Dotta (Abarth Grande Punto S2000) + 3’46”5; 6. Perico/Carrara (Peugeot 207 Super 2000) + 4’55”4; 7. Michelini/Biondi (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 5’33”3; 8. Betti/Scalvini (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 6’08 6; 9. Fontana/Casazza (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 6’25”8; 10. Kopecky/Stary (Skoda Fabia) + 6’36”5.

FIA European Rally Championship (standings after 1 round): 1. Luca Rossetti (Abarth) 37 points; 2. Renato Travaglia (Peugeot) 26; 3. Elwis Chentre (Peugeot) 20; 4. Giandomenico Basso (Abarth) 19; 5. Alessandro Perico (Peugeot) 12.

Italian Rally Championship (standings after 1 round): 1. Andreucci 10 points; 2. Rossetti 8; 3. Travaglia 6; 4. Chentre 5; 5. Basso 4; 6. Perico 3; 7. Michelini 2; 8. Kopecky 1.