Sunday, 11th May 2008

Italian makes it four-from-four with Portuguese success.

Fourth place was decided on the final stage of the rally, after a spectacular battle between Giandomenico Basso's Abarth and Finn Juho Hanninen in a Mitsubishi. In the end, Basso claimed the advantage by just 2.5secs and opened his points-scoring account for the season.


Miguel Campos was lying eighth overall with the BFGoodrich- and Portugal-liveried Peugeot when it was cruelly sidelined on the road section back to the end-of-rally parc ferme in the Algarve Stadium.

"Sport can be so cruel at times!" team boss Marc van Dalen admitted, "Retiring so close to the finish was a bitter blow, but that's rallying and we fully respect the rule that precludes anybody from helping a crew outside of the service park. Miguel's alternator failed at the end of SS11, but held for the next two stages, although it didn't last for the final 60km run to the finish."

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Andreas Aigner gave the Red Bull Rally Team cause for satisfaction after a difficult rally by claiming ninth place. The Austrian went into the final day simply aiming to perform various tests with new tyre and chassis set-ups, he managed to move up the order with a storming finish that saw him post the best time of the last stage and second on SS11.

“That was a really pleasing end to the day," Aigner commented, "I was really happy with the second round. I have to thank to the team as it was a perfect team performance once again. We were just missing a slice of fortune this time. I can now go to Greece for the next PWRC run full of confidence.”

Marco Cavigioli won the IRC 2WD Cup in a Fiat Grande Punto diesel, finishing 15th in the IRC rankings, to claim the joint lead of the series and reinforce Fiat's lead of the 2WD manufacturers' rankings.


Results - Rally Portugal:

1. Rossetti/Chiarcossi Peugeot 207 S2000 2h 57m 50.1s
2. Kopecky/Stary Peugeot 207 S2000 +45.8s
3. Vouilloz/Klinger Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m37.8s
4. Basso/Dotta Abarth Grande Punto +2m18.7s
5. Hanninen/Markkula Mitsubishi Lancer Gp.N +2m21.2s
6. Magalhaes/Castro Peugeot 207 S2000 +3m11.6s
7. Stohl/Minor Peugeot 207 S2000 +3m51.3s
8. Campos/Babo Peugeot 207 S2000 +4m32.3s
9. Aigner/Wicha Mitsubishi Lancer Gp.N +8m09.5s
10. Peres/Dias Mitsubishi Lancer Gp.N +10m46.4s

2WD: Marco Cavigioli Abarth Grande Punto Diesel

Standings (after 2 rounds)

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