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Sanremo IRC: Giandomenico Basso in command after day one

Giandomenico Basso dominated day one of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge's Sanremo event

The Italian was fastest on three of Friday's four stages, and by the end of the 44-kilometre, after-dark, Ronde test he had built a lead of 25.6 seconds.

Jan Kopecky holds second place in the factory Skoda, feeling that Basso's turbocharged Regional Rally Car Ford has a technical advantage over his normally-aspirated Super 2000 Fabia on the Sanremo stages.

Kopecky's former champion team-mate Juho Hanninen crashed out on Ronde.

Paolo Andreucci held third for a while, before easing off to prioritise his title hopes in the Italian series - for which Sanremo also counts. Andreucci now has a clear run at the crown as two mistakes on the first two stages ruled out his rival Umberto Scandola.

Andreucci is now sixth, behind Alessandro Perico, Stefano Albertini and series returnee Craig Breen, making his first IRC appearance since the Targa Florio crash in which his co-driver Gareth Roberts lost his life in June.

IRC points leader Andreas Mikkelsen is absent for a third successive round, but given his championship cushion he remains on course to clinch the title whether he attends next month's Cyprus finale or not. The Norwegian has prioritised his World Rally Championship programme with Volkswagen's S2000 Skodas in recent months.

Leading positions after SS4:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car               Time/Gap
 1.  Giandomenico Basso  Movisport Ford         58m59.3s
 2.  Jan Kopecky         Skoda                   + 25.6s
 3.  Alessandro Perico   United Peugeot        + 1m06.6s
 4.  Stefano Albertini   Racing Lions Peugeot  + 1m12.9s
 5.  Craig Breen         Sainteloc Peugeot     + 1m13.3s
 6.  Paolo Andreucci     Racing Lions Peugeot  + 1m19.5s
 7.  Simone Campedelli   Procar Citroen        + 3m14.9s
 8.  Frigyes Turan       Solberg Ford          + 3m18.9s
 9.  Roberto Vescovi     Asd Renault           + 3m35.7s
10.  Rudy Michelini      Movisport Citroen     + 3m43.0s

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