10.04.2004 FIAT PUNTO ABARTH DRIVER GIANDOMENICO BASSO PUTS HIS RUN OF BAD LUCK BEHIND HIM AS HE DOMINATES THE RALLY MILLE MIGLIA

The third round of the Italian Rally Championship, the Rally Mille Miglia, which took place last weekend to the north of Brescia, had the added importance of being the first round of the European Rally Championship.

With a maximum coefficient available, the high level of competition of the Italian drivers was further increased by  some of the top class European drivers and teams, such as Simon Jean Joseph at the wheel of the works Renault Clio Super1600 supported by team Oreca, and Belgian Bruno Thiry entered by Kronos Racing in a Citroen Saxo Super1600. However, the Belgian driver was forced to use the older Saxo as the new Citroen C2 Super1600 has not yet aquired its homologation papers.

The event started early on Thursday evening, when the crews contested the 2.85km spectators-friendly super stage "Città di Desenzano". Such a short track was enough for Giandomenico Basso to grab the lead, a he stage a tie with local hero Andrea Dallavilla.

Basso, driving a works N Technology Fiat Punto Abarth rented to Trico Motor Sport, then kept a firm grip on the lead throughout the event right up to Saturday night's podium. The Fiat driver from Cavaso sul Tomba, finally putting to rest an appalling run off bad luck, built up a gap over the challengers during the first leg with a solid performance determined by an absolute lack of errors.

Paolo Andreucci suffered misfortune on SS2, when he spun off after struggling with his Pirelli tyres, while the Peugeot 306 Maxi of Luca Pedersoli had a puncture on SS6 which cost him two minutes. Jean Joseph and Boyere's Renault Clio saw their bonnet suddenly fly open and hit the windscreen losing them around 50 seconds and the chance to fight for the victory in the second leg.

The first leg ended with Basso holding the lead with Piero Longhi's Subaru Impreza second at 1:18, and Paolo Andreucci's Fiat Punto third at 1:22.

The second leg started with the retirement of top star Bruno Thiry, on the epic Cavallino stage, when his suspension broke after hitting a kerb in his Citroen Saxo. Saturday saw Giandomenico Basso, co-driven by Mitia Dotta, making a conservative drive, always with an eye on the provisional leaderboard.

Luca Pedersoli recovered about 1:30 of the delay he suffered on Friday with the five stage wins out of the total of six, although powered by a kit car, a Peugeot 306 Maxi, which is illegible for points in either the Italian Championship or the European one. A positive note for Renato Travaglia was on the fifteenth stage, where he set the best time in the Racing Lions' Peugeot 206 Super1600.

Basso's victory allowed him move dramatically up the Italian Championship leaderboard and likewise the European one. Fiat are now considering bringing a car for him to other rounds of the European Championship during the summer, possibly the Rally Vinho Madeira or the Antibes Rally.

Third position eventually went to Paolo Andreucci in the Procar Fiat Punto, allowing him to score 15 points, which cements his position at the top of the national series.

Eighth position for Stefano Bizzarri, in another a Procar Punto, was enough to win the Trofeo Fiat Punto Abarth, heading home Alessandro Bettega (12th), Matteo Gamba (14th) and the Welshman Leon Pesticcio (20th). Bizzarri also moved up also in the current classification of the Fiat trophy, whilst Matteo Gamba kept the lead in the Under 27 special classification.

Rally Mille Miglia (Final Result)

1  BASSO / DOTTA  FIAT PUNTO  3h31'00"1, 2  PEDERSOLI / VERNUCCIO  PEUGEOT MAXI  at 00'34"8, 3  ANDREUCCI / ANDREUSSI   FIAT PUNTO  at 01'02"0, 4  LONGHI / FAPPANI   SUBARU IMPREZA STI  at 01'44"1, 5  JEAN-JOSEPH / BOYERE  RENAULT CLIO  at 02'04"1, 6  CANTAMESSA / CAPOLONGO  MITSUBISHI LANCER  at 02'37"6, 7  ROSSETTI / DE LUIS  CITROEN SAXO  at 02'41"5, 8  BIZZARRI / BOSI   FIAT PUNTO  at 04'01"4, 9  DALLAVILLA / CANTON  RENAULT CLIO  at 04'08"3, 10 TRAVAGLIA / ZANELLA  PEUGEOT 206  at 04'23"2, 11 DATI / MERLIN   MITSUBISHI EVO VII  at 04'23"5, 12 BETTEGA / SCATTOLIN  FIAT PUNTO  at 05'05"8, 13 SOTTILE / NARI  SUBARU IMPREZA  at 05'31"6, 14 GAMBA / GUGLIELMINI  FIAT PUNTO  at 05'49"4, 15 OLDRATI / GRANAI   PEUGEOT MAXI  at 08'11"8

Italian Championship (after 3/11 rounds)

1 Paolo Andreucci  Fiat Punto Abarth  43 Points,=2 Andrea Navarra  Subaru Impreza Sti  28 Points, Giandomenico Basso  Fiat Punto Abarth  28 Points, 4 Piero Longhi  Subaru Sti  27 Points, 5 Andrea Dallavilla  Renault Clio 19 Points, 6 Luca Rossetti  Citroen Saxo 18 Points, 7 Alex Fiorio  Subaru Impreza  15 Points, =9 Emanuele Dati  Mitsubishi Lancer 14 Points, Luca Cantamessa  Mitsubishi Lancer  14 Points

Report & Photos by Marco Tenuti ( www.puntopower.com )