Basso wins in Antibes

After the snowstorm which fell during the night from Saturday to Sunday and which whitened the summits of the Southern Alps, the weather conditions returned to almost summer during the second stage of the 44th edition of the rally Antibes-Côte d?Azur, eleventh and penultimate round of the European Championship.

It was still cool at the top of the Col du Turini (1700 m) when the race passed. The thirty survivors of this hellish Sunday stage were very careful on the patches of snow. And yet, drivers at the top of the standings were surprised by the low level of grip. Ranked fourth overall, Marc Amourette (Citroën C2 Super 1600) retired after leaving the road (SS 12) like the Italian Massimo Cesa (Citroën C2 R2 Max) then third in the Citroën Racing Trophy.

Leader from the start, Giandomenico Basso added his name to the winners of the Antibes event as many of his compatriots have done before him. The Italian driver thus recovers a number of important points which place him in an excellent position at the head of the European championship before entering the last round which will take place at the Valais rally in Switzerland at the end of October.

Aware that it would be difficult for him to challenge the supremacy of the official Abarth driver, the Pole Michal Solowow, who could only hope for a mistake from his opponent, placed in second place. Main positive point for the pilot of the Peugeot 207 S2000, he is still in the race for the European title.

First Frenchman, Julien Maurin achieved one of his best results of his young career by climbing to the third step of the podium associated with Gilles Thimonier.
The international Citroën Racing Trophy meeting was won by the young Belgian hopeful Thierry Neuville which took a convincing 4th place overall, the first for a two-wheel drive. He is ahead of Frenchman Benjamin Perrin, who is back in the game after a difficult warm-up. Long leader, Bryan Bouffier was forced to retire after a collision in the Col de Turini.