27/09/2009: Basso leads European Rally Championship

Driving a Grande Punto Abarth S2000, Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta have scored maximum points in Greece, in the tough ELPA Rally, the antepenultimate round of the European Rally Championship. This result earns the Abarth works driver the lead in the continental series standings, ahead of Pole Michal Solowow and Italian Corrado Fontana.

The ELPA Rally has proved very tough, with over 250km of rough gravel stages covered with many stones. On this surface, the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 has proven its sturdiness, earning the Italian driver a brilliant victory that makes him more confident before the last two events - the Rallye d'Antibes in France and the Rallye du Valais in Switzerland.

So far, Basso and Dotta won five rounds of the European Rally Championship: the 1000 Miglia Rally, Bulgaria, Madeira, Barum and ELPA.

European Rally Championship standings:
1. Giandomenico Basso (I, Abarth) 88 points;
2. Michal Solowow (PL, Peugeot) 79;
3. Corrado Fontana (I, Peugeot and Mitsubishi) 76;
4. Krum Donkev (BG, Subaru) 43.