Rally 1000 Miglia win boosts Basso ahead of IRC return

Giandomenico Basso says that his win on the all-asphalt Rally 1000 Miglia, the combined European and Italian championship qualifier, has given him a huge confidence boost for Giru di Corsica - Tour de Corse.

Basso took his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Regional Rally Car to victory on the event, which finished in Brescia on Saturday.

He is planning to use the turbocharged car when he gets his Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign underway on the island contest from 9-12 May.

Basso won eight out of 15 stages on Rally 1000 Miglia, defeating the Peugeot 207 Super 2000 of reigning Italian champion and IRC event winner Paolo Andreucci by more than a minute. However, he is not expecting the same level of dominance in Corsica.

“I think Corsica will be much tougher,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of experience of Mille Miglia – this was my fourth win – and Corsica has a completely different type of surface and more technical roads: it’s more stop-start compared to the flowing nature of the Mille Miglia stages. I’m also still learning the car, which requires a very different driving style compared to the Super 2000s I have driven before. In particular, you have to be a lot harder on the brakes, which take real punishment in this car. I could see that being a problem in Corsica with all the bends, so we’re going to have to be careful.”