Intro:

Italian ace Giandomenico Basso made a heroic return to the FIA European Rally Championship by winning his home event, Rallye Sanremo on Saturday (12th October).

Script:

Italian ace Giandomenico Basso made a heroic return to the FIA European Rally Championship by winning his home event, which reached a dramatic climax in the picturesque hills of northern Italy on Saturday.

Basso, a double European champion, had been absent from the ERC this season but secured a late deal to contest the penultimate round in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 alongside co-driver Mitia Dotta.

The Italian started the final stage leading Bryan Bouffier by seven seconds and when Bouffier was forced to change a puncture Basso took victory in Sanremo for the third time and the fourth for Peugeot's 207 S2000.

Despite taking less than two minutes to change their punctured tyre, Bouffier and co-driver Xavier Panseri slipped to fourth in the overall standings behind Alessandro Perico and Fabrizio Carrara.

Perico would have been second but for a charging effort by Esapekka Lappi on the final stage.

While Basso celebrated his second successive victory in Sanremo, there was frustration for multiple Italian title-winner Paolo Andreucci who dropped out of a comfortable lead when he made a rare error four kilometres into Saturday's third stage.