EUROPEAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP BASSO COMES SECOND IN THE BARUM RALLY

Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta in a Fiat Punto Abarth took second place in the Barum Rally, sixth event in the European Rally Championship, held in the Czech Republic. The official Fiat driver finished just 29.2 seconds off first place, which went to Travaglia in a Renault Clio. This result confirms Basso’s place as runner-up in the overall title race, 14 points behind Travaglia who leads the field.

Basso lost about 50” on the first leg due to problems with a shock absorber. He then staged a spectacular fight back, winning 6 special speed trials to reach second place, ahead of the Mitsubishi Lancers driven by local drivers Kopecky and Vaclav.

There are three events remaining in the season: the Fiat Rally in Turkey (September 11), the Eko Rally in Greece (September 25) and the Antibes Rally in France (October 30).

Turin, August 21, 2005

Barum Rally results: 1. Travaglia-Zanella (Renault Clio) in 2 hr 14' 51.7"; 2. Basso-Dotta (Fiat Punto Abarth) at 29.2"; 3. Kopecky-Schovanek (Mitsubishi Lancer) at 46.3"; 4. P.Vaclav-Uhel (Mitsubishi Lancer) at 1' 23.1"; 5. A.Vaclav-Gal (Mitsubishi Lancer) at 2' 05.4".

European Rally Championship standings: 1. Travaglia (Italy) 35 points; 2. Basso (Italy) 21; 3. Jean-Joseph (France 11; 4. Princen (Belgium) and Holowczyc (Poland) 10.

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