Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta have extended their lead in the European Rally Championship with a dominant win in the 42nd Ypres Rally this weekend. The Italian pair steered their Fiat Grande Punto S2000 to victory by over 50 seconds, to secure Fiat’s first-ever win on the famous event.

The Ypres Rally has long been a highly popular fixture of the ERC, with highly scenic yet very challenging stages. For many years held over 24 hours, the rally switched to a three-day format in 1997, with a reduction in length to two days last year. Traditionally a rally blessed with strong entry lists, the strongest assault this year came from Fiat, which entered a pair of works Grande Punto S2000s. Given that a few promising recent performances had been hit by mechanical problems, this was an important rally for the N.technology-run team, who were determined to secure another success for the new rallycar after its impressive early-season performances. The team’s lead crew, Giandomenico Basso/Mitia Dotta, were seeded at number 1, and led the competitors off the start ramp thanks to their position at the head of the ERC standings.

In addition to its status as an ERC round this year, the rally also marked the second round of the newly-created International Rally Challenge (IRC), backed by Eurosport and with a strong focus on the new breed of Super2000 rallycars. The opening round of this championship, the Zulu Rally South Africa, had ended in disappointment for Fiat, who had sent a Grande Punto S2000 to compete for the first time outside Europe. Driven by 21-year-old Umberto Scandola (who was making his debut in the car), the Grande Punto suffered from various mechanical gremlins which prevented it from demonstrating its full potential. These included an engine oil leak and broken rear suspension before the car was finally retired with engine failure, although the experience generated useful data. Despite this setback, Scandola and co-driver Luigi Pirollo would return for the second round of the IRC driving the second N.technology entry, looking as much to gain experience as a solid result.

The two Fiats would face opposition from local hero and four-time Ypres winner Freddy Loix in a PH Sport-run Citroën C2 Super1600, along with Estonian Urmo Aava’s Suzuki Swift S1600 and a brace of Renault Clio S1600s piloted by Michał Sołowow, Marco Cavigioli, Bernd Casier and last year’s Ypres victor, Kris Princen. Turbocharged Group N opposition, meanwhile, was provided in the form of 2004 winner Larry Cols (Mitsubishi Evo IX), Bernard Munster (Subaru Impreza STi) and experienced local Patrick Snijers (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), another four-time winner.

Day 1 on Friday consisted of six stages, made up of a repeated loop of three: Dikkebus, Zonnebeke and Langemark. For the Grande Puntos, it represented an almost perfect day, with Scandola quickest on the opening stage by three-tenths of a second before Basso settled into his stride and took over the lead with fastest time on Zonnebeke 1 by 4.8 seconds from his young team-mate. This pattern was repeated over the next four stages, with Basso winning the rest of the day’s stages.  Scandola in the meantime continued his impressive start, posting second-quickest time on stages 2, 3, 4 and 6. The only fly in the ointment to a perfect result was Kris Princen, who slotted his Renault Clio S1600 in-between the Puntos on SS5 (Zonnebeke 2), 3.4 seconds behind Basso and 1.1 ahead of Scandola.

Thus, at the end of leg 1, the two Fiats were firmly atop the head of the leaderboard, Basso heading Scandola by 20.2 seconds, with Kris Princen’s Renault leading the S1600 class and occupying the final podium spot, 43.8 seconds adrift of Basso. Larry Cols was a further 14.5 seconds back in fourth position, just over five seconds in front of Bernd Casier (+ 1:03.4). The Renault pilot in turn headed Freddy Loix (+ 1:41.3) after the Belgian had suffered a puncture and dropped around a minute on SS3 (Langemark 1), while Andy Lefevere (+ 1:43.9), Bob Colsoul (+ 1:47.9), Urmo Aava (+ 1:51.2) and Enrique García Ojeda (+ 2:12.2) completed the top 10.
 

Notable casualties of the first day’s action included Snijers, as well as Bryan Bouffier, who suffered an off on the first stage and sustained significant damage to his Peugeot 206 S1600.  Likewise, Peter Bijvelds, running in fifth place, went off on Zonnebeke 2, dropping down to 21st position.

The final day, leg 2, represented a greater competitive distance than the first leg, with a total of 12 stages, on this occasion a loop of six repeated. The day began in storming fashion once again for the Fiats, with Basso claiming another stage win by 6.9 seconds ahead of Scandola on SS7, Suavegarde 1. At this point, however, things took a turn for the worse for the Fiat team, when on SS8, Westouter 1, Scandola misjudged a landing after a jump. The Grande Punto landed in a pond, causing anxious moments for the crew who, fortunately, managed to escape before the car sunk completely underwater. Clearly, though, they were going no further – a disappointing end to an impressive drive.

Basso claimed the stage win on this and the following two stages, Watou 1 and Krombeke/Vleteren 1, but the pressure was by this stage diminished and he could afford to cruise to the finish. This he duly did, completing the rally with a winning margin of 50.6 seconds despite dropping over twenty seconds on the final stage. Behind him was Princen, hanging on to second place after a slight overshoot on SS10 caused him to come under pressure from Cols, who eventually was forced to settle for third. Loix did well to rise back up the leaderboard to fourth by the finish, a minute down on Cols and no doubt ruing his puncture on day 1, whilst the points positions were rounded out by Casier (+ 2:20.4), Aava (+ 5:12.0), García Ojeda (+ 5:22.0) and Colsoul (5:42.2).  Meanwhile, following his problems on day 1, which had resulted in balance problems with his car, Bijvelds suffered a second off, which resulted in retirement. Dutchman Jan de Winkel, after a strong start to the second day (rising from 11th to 6th position), also had a big accident in his Renault Clio S1600 on SS15, Watou 2, which resulted in his co-driver, Radboud van Hoek, sustaining some damage to his back and being transferred to hospital, although he is expected to fully recover within six weeks.

The 10 points awarded for the win means that Basso extends his lead at the head of the ERC standings to 15 points over fellow N.technology pilot Paolo Andreucci and Polish driver Leszek Kuzaj, currently tied for second place on 10 points. In addition, after missing the first round of the IRC, Basso is now tying for the lead of this championship with Alister McRae, who won the previous round, the Zulu Rally in South Africa. With the next round of the IRC also forming part of the European championship (the Rally Vinho Da Madeira, run on asphalt), the prospects are good that Basso, Dotta and Fiat will be able to continue their successful run thus far this year, and secure both championships in the Grande Punto S2000’s debut season.

by Shant Fabricatorian

42nd Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally – Final Classification: 1. Basso/Dotta (Fiat Grande Punto) 2 hrs 49:23.6; 2. Princen/Chevaillier (Renault Clio) + 50.6; 3. Cols/Goddé (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 55.5; 4. Loix/Buysmans (Citroën C2) + 1:54.5; 5. Casier/Miclotte (Renault Clio) + 2:20.4; 6. Aava/Sikk (Suzuki Swift) + 5:12.0; 7. García Ojeda/Barrabès (Peugeot 206) + 5:22.0; 8. Colsoul/Colsoul (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 5:42.2; 9. Lefevere/Messelis (Subaru Impreza) + 5:54.1; Bruyneel/Droeven (Subaru Impreza) + 5:57.6.

FIA European Rally Championship – Drivers’ standings (after 4 rounds): 1. Basso (Fiat), 25 points; 2. Andreucci (Fiat) and Kuzaj (Subaru), 10 points; 4. Cantamessa (Subaru), Işık (Fiat), Svedlund (Subaru) and Princen (Renault), 8 points; 8. Sottile (Mitsubishi), Kazaz (Subaru), Sołowow (Mitsubishi) and Cols (Mitsubishi), 6 points.

International Rally Challenge – Drivers’ standings (after 2 rounds): 1. A. McRae (Mitsubishi) and Basso (Fiat), 10 points; 3. Kuun (Volkswagen) and Princen (Renault), 8 points; 5. Lourens (Toyota) and Cols (Mitsubishi), 6 points; 7. Head (Mitsubishi) and Loix (Citroën), 5 points; 9. Fekken (Volkswagen) and Casier (Renault), 4 points.