13.09.2004 Giandomenico Basso and Paolo Andreucci finished 1-2 in Super1600 on the Rally dell'Adriatico, although the dusty gravel roads favoured the four wheel drive machines overall

The front wheel drive Fiat Punto Abarth crews were unable to live with the four wheel drive brigade on the hot, dusty, gravel  roads of the 11th Rally dell'Adriatico, which took place last Friday and Saturday.

The back-to-back winner of the previous two Italian Rally Championship events, Giandomenico Basso, won the Super 16000 category, finishing in seventh place overall, just one position ahead of fellow Punto Abarth pilot, the reigning champion Paolo Andreucci.

Although on paper this result could be construed as disappointing, it was better than had been expected, recent hard work by N-Technology's engineers to improve the Punto's performance on gravel, clearly paying off.

For Basso it was his first win on gravel, and coupled with a strong performance by a car clearly not ideally suited to the conditions, the Italian was very satisfied with the result.

"Now they cannot claim anymore about the fact I'm not so regular on gravel: here it is proof of evidence that I'm getting better even on loose surfaces, it is basically a matter of gaining experience on the stages," he told Italiaspeed at the finishing ramp, concluding, "Other Super1600 drivers and Production drivers, can count on having run more gravel rallies than me in the past".

With series leader Andrea Navarra scooping maximum points, after racing to a narrow 4.7 second victory, in his Aimont Racing-run Subaru Impeza STi, over his title rival and team mate Piero Longhi, the event proved to be a significant blow to Fiat's chances of retaining both the manufacturer's and driver's crowns.

The eleventh running of the Rally dell'Adriatico comprised of two legs, split into fifteen special stages, five different ones being run three times each: six on Friday and nine on Saturday, making up a total of almost 700km, with 161km of this being competitively timed.

The full gravel rally was scheduled to start from Ostra on Friday morning and finish in Ancona at teatime on Saturday. Going into the event, Subaru Impreza STi pilot Andrea Navarra held the series lead, on 101 points with the similarly-mounted Piero Longhi just nine points adrift. First of the Punto pilots, Paolo Andreucci, was third on 82 points, and with two consecutive maximum scores Giandomenico Basso was breathing down his neck, eight points further back. In the manufacturer's race Subaru had 129 points with Fiat on 111 points.

However right from stage one, the Colli del Verdicchio, the four wheel drive runners took maximum advantage of the gravel conditions, and this first timed test saw Andreucci the fastest of the Punto drivers, way back in tenth place, after losing a whopping 14.2 seconds over the 9.330km stage length.

The pattern was repeated all day, and by the time the runners completed the sixth and final stage of the day, Andreucci, co-driven as usual by Anna Andreussi, in the Procar-run Punto Abarth was in 8th place overall, 43.5 seconds adrift of the rally leader Piero Longhi, while Basso, with Mitia Dotta alongside, in a similar Movisport-backed, Trico Motor Sport-entered car, was two places back on the leaderboard, and a further 25.8 seconds adrift.

In Super1600, the two Punto pilots, both complaining of too-soft suspension settings, held onto second and third places, Luca Rossetti and Daniele De Luis in the Vieffe Corse-run Citroen Saxo S1600 claiming the two wheel drive lead after establishing a slender 4.7 second cushion over Andreucci. The other leading contender in the category, the factory-run Peugeot 205 Super1600 of Renato Travaglia, rolled out of the event, the crew having been pressing too hard in their efforts to keep up with the pace.

Six stages on Friday gave way to nine, longer stages on Saturday: the 13.8km Montalto, the 13.2km Monterolo and the 9.7km Montaiato. However the pattern stayed the same, a battle for overall honours between Navarra and Longhi evetually being decided in the former's favour.

Meanwhile the tussle for victory in Super1600, which was taking place at the foot of the top-ten positions overall, saw the Fiat Punto crews dispense with Rosetti's challenge in a battle that was eventually, for the third consecutive rally, decided in Basso's favour.

N-Technology's engineers were in attendance all event, following closely the performance's of Basso and Andreucci. Recent development work undertook to make the Super1600 Punto Abarth more suited to gravel surfaces seems to have paid dividends, and new specifications will be incorporated into next year's car in an effort to further improve the front wheel drive car in this area.

Fiat Punto Abarth crews finishing outside the top ten included, San Marinese pairing Jader Vagnini and Giuliano Calzolari who came home in 17th place overall in their Rubicone Corse-run car, and 4th in Super1600; Matteo Gamba and Marco Ruffini driving another Procar entry in 19th place overall and 5th in class; while rounding out the top twenty overall were Mitos Racing's Stefano Bizzarini and Masimiliano Bossi, who took 6th place in the two wheel drive class.

The Trofeo Fiat Silo Abarth was due to be run over nine stages on Saturday. However the opening stage was cancelled, along with the penultimate test, so the eight runners were to contest a closely fought battle over seven stages.

Movisport-backed Andrea Perego and Claudio Vischioni, who will this coming weekend be contesting the WRC-counting Wales Rally GB in a Fiat Auto UK-backed Stilo Abarth Rally, reasserted their dominance of the series, the pair beating the victors last time out on the Rally Alpi Orientali, Paolo Sottisanti and Elisa Mandriele, by a comfortable 40.7 seconds. Christian Chemin and Shary Dayna Pizzol in one of the two Hawk Racing Club entries were placed third, a further ten seconds back.

Now the Italian Rally Championship moves onto the final two events, the Rally Targa Florio on 8th-9th October and Rally San Remo on 18th-20th November, both all-tarmac encounters which will suit the little Italian cars ideally.

The chances of the Fiat drivers retaining the title is however mathematical. Subaru pilot's Navarra, now on 121 points, and Longhi, with 107, have a clear advantage over Andreucci, who is on 88, and Basso, on 82. With 20 points for a win, a theoretical maximum of 40 are still up for grabs keeping the door slightly ajar.

Basso and Andreucci will have a mountain to climb, but this pair, as has been demonstrated time and time again, are always ready to pull off a giant-killing act.

by Marco Tenuti in Ancona

Photos: Marco Tenuti