15.07.2004 The seventh round of the Italian Rally Championship, the Rally of San Martino and Primiero last wekend, saw a dominant victory go to the Fiat Punto PAIRING, Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta

Last weekend's seventh round of the Italian Rally Championship, the Rally of San Martino and Primiero, was marked by a dominant victory from Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta in an N-Technology built, Trico Motor Sport-run, Fiat Punto Abarth.

The Veneto driver had promised a fierce battle before the event: "I need absolutely to get as many points as possible, if I want to keep some chance for the Italian Championship".

He maintained his promise, winning the rally, despite the conditions turning against the two wheel drive runners on the second leg.

He grabbed the lead on the first stage, a 1.32km-long spectator-friendly superspecial stage run around the high altitude, luxury Alpine town of San Martino di Castrozza.

Going to sleep on Thursday night with just 0.4 seconds in hand over Paolo Andreucci in another official N Technology Fiat Punto Abarth, Giandomenico Basso left the rest of the crews trailing in his wake during the opening stages of the first leg the next morning.

Basso posted fastest times from the second to the sixth stage, with a remarkable advantage of 10 seconds and 16 seconds after the first and second running of the Val dei Mocheni-Bersntol stage.

These results let him park his Fiat Punto in the Parc Ferme for the overnight rest from Friday to Saturday with 1 minute 27 seconds in hand over his closest contender, a slightly surprised Andrea Navarra at the wheel of a GpN Subaru Impreza, and Renato Travaglia's Peugeot 206, the first of Basso's Super 1600 rivals, a further 27 seconds adrift.

The first leg was not so positive for the 2003 Italian Rally champion, Paolo Andreucci , after the Tuscan driver suffered a puncture on the second stage and his co-driver Anna Andreussi, miscalculated a time check by one minute, an mistake that set them back them an equivalent time penalty.

They eventually completed the first leg as seventh crew, 2 minutes 38 seconds off the lead.

While first leg had featured warm and sunny weather, which let the Super1600 crews express their two wheel power ideally on dry tarmac, the second leg would offer a completely different scenario.

While crossing the high Alpine passes at 2,000 metres above sea level, the temperatures cooled to around 5ºC, and the drivers faced trouble with the stages becoming slippery after storm clouds deposited torrential rain over virtually the entire leg.

Basso, relying on the time cushion he had built up the day before, drove carefully, without taking too many risks along the way. Renato Travaglia tried unsuccessfully to attack Andrea Navarra's second place, winning the last two stages, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Cesenate driver.

However, Andreucci, with less too lose, was able to gain two positions, moving him up to the fourth place by the finish, after posting quick times all day, including two stage victories.

The event saw the Italian debut of the Citroen C2 Super1600, entered by the Vieffecorse team and driven by Luca Rossetti. The new car put in a strong performance and looks like it is going to be an interesting adversary on the tarmac to the dominant Fiat Punto Rally.

Luca Rossetti however suffered an unpleasant incident, when his car went off road and injuring a marshal. After offering assistance to the marshal and being stationary for more than half an hour, the Citroen crew completed the rally in 34th position.

Over the closing stages spectators were treated to the appearance of an exceptional guest star, Miki Biasion, the Lancia-driving World Rally Drivers Champion of 1987 and 1988.

The Italian hero drove as a special safety car, at the wheel of the mythic Lancia Delta S4, a 600bhp monster which featured all wheel drive and both a turbocharger and a supercharger, a car abolished at the end of 1986 after winning almost everything in its short rallying career.

by Marco Tenuti ( PuntoPower.com )