The Grande Punto Abarth driven by Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta made a good start to the 91st Targa Florio, the fourth event in the Italian Rally Championship. At the end of the first leg, the official Abarth team had earned second place overall, behind Paolo Andreucci (Mitsubishi Lancer). The Grande Punto Abarth leads the two Peugeot 207s driven by Alessandro Perico and Luca Rossetti, the Mitsubishi Lancer driven by Matteo Gamba and the Subaru Impreza driven by Piero Longhi.
The rally started in a light drizzle, which made tyre selection tricky. During this early part of the leg, Basso dropped 30 seconds behind Andreucci, but managed to keep this gap constant during the subsequent special stages.
“Going first on the damp and slippery special stages,” said Basso, “meant that we suffered from poor grip. But as rubber was laid down on the road, I managed to gradually pick up the pace and eventually win the final timed section.”
The diesel-powered Grande Punto Abarth Multijet driven by Davide Gatti and Maurizio Barone also performed well, leading the Group A category until the penultimate stage, when a 5 second penalty, due to a mechanical problem, cost them first place.
Tomorrow (Sunday May 6) the second and final leg will be run, with another four special stages for a total of 62 Km of timed speed trials. The rally finishes at the Fiat factory in Termini Imerese.
Targa Florio Rally, standings after the first leg
1. Andreucci-Andreussi (Mitsubishi Lancer), 1h 01m 23.4s; 2. Basso-Dotta (Grande Punto Abarth) +34.5s; 3. Perico-Carrara (Peugeot 207) 1m 11.4s; 3. Rossetti-Chiarcossi (Peugeot 207) +1m 12.4s; 5. Gamba-Guzzi (Mitsubishi Lancer) +1m 36.3s ; 6. Longhi-Imerito (Subaru Impreza) +1m 40.1s; 7. Medici-Cicognini (Mitsubishi) +2m 02.1s; 8. Perego-De Luis (Mitsubishi Lancer) +2m 02.8s; 9. Aghini-Cerrai (Subaru Impreza) +2m 06.2s; 10. Riolo-Marin (Renault Clio) +2m 07.8s.
International
