The Grande Punto Abarth's resounding success with Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta in the Madeira Rally, fifth event in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, means that Abarth now has a clear lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship (ahead of Peugeot) and in the Drivers’ Championship with Andrea Navarra.
The official Abarth Team dominated the Portuguese race, taking the lead after the third special trial and finishing 1’31.1” ahead of the Mitsubishi Lancer driven by Renato Travaglia. Third and fourth places went to the Peugeot 207s with Magalhaes from Portugal and Spain's Garcia-Ojeda, while yet another Portuguese driver, Fontes, finished fifth at the wheel of a Grande Punto Abarth. Italy's Corrado Fontana had an excellent race too, with his Grande Punto Abarth taking seventh place.
Despite withdrawing owing to an electrical problem, Andrea Navarra still leads the Drivers’ standings in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, ahead of Garcia-Ojeda.
Madeira saw Basso chalk up a repeat success of last year's win. "It was a really great day," commented the official Abarth driver. Although faster than anyone else in a further three special trials, he only managed to administer the result in the final stages. "With an advantage of more than one minute over my nearest rival," said Basso, " to continue to take risks didn't make any sense and so I decided to maintain a pace that was just fast enough to keep me on my toes." He confirmed he really likes Madeira's island roads and thanks all the local fans for the warm encouragement they gave him. "For me," said the current European champion, "it's always a pleasure to come back to Madeira. And of course, when I win it's even better." During the entire race he only experienced a slight gearbox problem in the initial leg, but, still managed to hold on to the lead. "But," he explained, "once again the Abarth mechanics were magnificent and replaced the gearbox in record time."
Abarth's Team Manager, Claudio Berro, commented, "Giandomenico Basso has obtained a splendid victory, exploiting a car to the full that proved to be both really fast and reliable. He attacked at just the right moment and then managed to establish a comfortable lead, only letting up and controlling his rivals towards the end. It's a pity that Andrea Navarra had to withdraw before the race really got started because of what proved to be a faulty contact of a battery lead; I'm sure that he would also have been up there with the leaders and would certainly have contributed to our haul of points in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge Manufacturers’ standings. However, José-Pedro Fontes gave us a hand instead by finishing fifth overall with a Grande Punto entered by Fiat Portugal."
Madeira Rally result
1. Basso-Dotta (Grande Punto Abarth) in 3h06’13.4”; 2. Travaglia-Granai (Mitsubishi) +1’31.1”; 3. Magalhaes-Grave (Peugeot 207) +2'26.4”; 4. Ojeda-Costa (Peugeot 207) +2’52.8”; 5. Fontes-Prata (Grande Punto Abarth) +3’39.0”; 6. Casier-Miclotte (Peugeot 207) +5’37.3”; 7. Fontana-Casazza (Grande Punto Abarth) +5’40.6”; 8. Jean Joseph-Boyere (Citroen C2) +6’03.5”.
Intercontinental Rally Challenge Manufacturers’ standings
1. Abarth 62 points; 2. Peugeot 59; 3. Mitsubishi 38; 4. Citroen 3.
Intercontinental Rally Challenge Drivers’ standings
1. Navarra (Abarth) ITA 29 points; 2. Garcia-Ojeda (Peugeot) SPA 27; 3. Vouilloz (Peugeot) FRA 16; 4. Alen (Abarth) FIN 15; 5. Basso (Abarth) and Rossetti (Peugeot) ITA 10.
Turin, August 4, 2007
International
