Rally-eMag 014 December 2013 | Page 53

ERC: Rallye Sanremo / Rally review 53/64 Finale Extravaganza With Andreucci’s demise, Basso could rise to prominence. He inherited the lead from his fellow countryman and had a comfortable cushion over Bouffier who was in second. Bouffier though would not settle for second and pushing until he closed to gap to a mere seven seconds before the final stage. Basso still felt confident before the stage, but his lead over Bouffier had been as big as 45 seconds at one point. With well over twenty kilometers to go in the final stage, Bouffier might just have enough to edge the Italian out of victory. the top as those around him faltered. Bouffier’s demise also promoted Lappi to second with Perico in third. Lappi had been adopting a cautious approach as he lacks experience on these tricky roads and was mainly here to learn the event. His uncharacteristically calm performance paid dividends just like Basso’s. It is so easy to make a mistake around Sanremo. The roads are fast, tight, covered with leaves making the grip levels very difficult to judge and on top of it all they are lined with trees, barriers and cliffs, not something you want to encounter. More than anywhere, the saying ‘to finish It wasn’t to be Bouffier’s rally first, you first have to finthough. Continuing to push ish’, applies to this event. he hit a puncture on the final stage and was forced to Production Cup Honours change a tyre on the stage. Another delighted man This of course left him with at the finish was Andreas no chance of victory and Aigner. He wasn’t as much actually dropped him down in the spotlight as he had all the way to fourth. Basso been in Croatia, with a car was happy enough though. not quite suited to these Throughout the entire rally roads. It didn’t bother him he only won one stage, but though as he did enough to his steady performance claim the ERC Production was enough to bring him to Cup for group N cars. Local knowledge goes a long way. Basso didn’t win many stages, but he knew exactly were not to make a mistake, crucial in Sanremo. In the end the win was a just reward. Ready to move up to the big league? Andreas Aigner clinched the Porduction Cup title in Sanremo and will be looking to step up to a top car for 2014.