Once more, the action went down to the very final stage on the latest round of the IRC, the Principe de Asturias Rally in Spain. Although the all-asphalt event was brand new to the series this year as round seven, it became one of the closest fought contests in the IRC's history. Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso and Peugeot Belgium's Nicolas Vouilloz ended the long opening day, characterised by extremely variable weather, tied on time in the lead. During the second day though, Basso extended his lead by pushing extremely hard in the morning.

Vouilloz fought back on the final loop of stages, reducing the gap to just 12.2 seconds heading into the final test. But once again the two rivals set exactly the same time, and Basso duly claimed Abarth's first win since he triumphed at the Madeira Rally in August last year. Nonetheless, second place in Spain has extended Vouilloz's championship lead usefully: particularly in the absence of IRC series frontrunner Luca Rossetti, who was contesting a clashing Italian Championship rally.

Freddy Loix, Vouilloz's team mate, was third in Spain despite suffering power steering problems on the second stage today. The Belgian slid off the road but was still able to ensure his place on the final podium. A masterful tyre choice on Friday evening when the previously wet conditions started to dry out had helped the Belgian to within 25 seconds of the leading duo, but his problem this morning denied Loix the chance to claim a second consecutive victory after winning the last round in the Czech Republic. Nonetheless, he moves up to second in the title race.

Local man (and 2002 Junior World Rally Champion) Dani Sola was set for fourth place on his home event, but went off the road on the second stage of the day in his privateer Abarth. This left the way clear for his countryman and reigning IRC champion Enrique Garcia Ojeda to claim the place in his Peugeot Spain 207 S2000. He finished ahead of the reigning Spanish Champion Miguel Fuster, in an Abarth entered by Fiat Spain.

Factory Abarth driver Anton Alen was sixth, his best overall career result on asphalt, despite not having any experience of driving the Grande Punto on wet tarmac before this weekend. BFGoodrich Drivers Team entrant Sergio Vallejo was seventh, while local Mitsubishi man Alberto Hevia finished eighth, having run as high as fourth in the rain-soaked opening stages. Peugeot Spain's Luis Monzon was also set for a points finish, but had to retire on the very last stage of the 873-kilometre event.

Despite the treacherous nature of the conditions, which left the drivers guessing about grip levels and tyre choices during the opening day, there were relatively few other retirements. Most of the people forced out were in the IRC 2WD Cup category. The first high-profile retirement was Alessandro Bettega in the Honda Civic Type R R3, who stopped after the opening stage with alternator failure. IRC 2WD Cup leader Marco Cavigioli retired on Friday afternoon with a broken radiator on his Fiat Punto Diesel.

This meant that local man Miguel Arias has become the latest IRC 2WD Cup winner, thanks to a faultless drive in his Peugeot 206 XS, assuming joint second place of the series behind Cavigioli. Arias led the category from SS4 onwards, eventually finishing more than a minute ahead of the similar car of Alberto Monarri. Climent Domingo was third in another Peugeot 206 XS.

IRC FINAL RESULTS AFTER SS15, PRINCIPE DE ASTURIAS RALLY (SPAIN)

1 Basso/Dotta Abarth Grande Punto 2h34m39.0s
2 Vouilloz/Klinger Peugeot 207 S2000     +12.2s
3 Loix/Buysmans Peugeot 207 S2000     +1m54.5s
4 Ojeda/Costa Peugeot 207 S2000     +2m34.3s
5 Fuster/Medina Abarth Grande Punto     +4m05.7s
6 Alen/Alanne Abarth Grande Punto +4m16.7s
7 Vallejo/Vallejo Peugeot 207 S2000 +5m12.1s
8 Hevia/Pin Mitsubishi Lancer (N)     +6m40.6s
9 Burgo/Burgo Mitsubishi Lancer (N) +9m12.9s
10 Perez/Velasco Mitsubishi Lancer (N) +15m51.2s

Two-wheel drive winner: Miguel Arias (Peugeot 206 XS)

STANDINGS

Drivers

1 Vouilloz 52   
2 Loix 35   
3 Basso & Rossetti 32   
5 Alen 17   
6 Kopecky 15
7 Hanninen & Travaglia 14
9 Bouffier & Camacho 6
11 Casier & Valousek & Ojeda 5

Manufacturers

1 Peugeot 117
2 Abarth 64
3 Mitsubishi 10
4 Volkswagen 5

QUOTES

"After the opening day of the rally when I finished with the same time as Nicolas overnight, I knew it was going to be a big fight today. Luckily we had a good day although it was quite stressful: I pushed hard in the morning and took a few more risks than I had done on Friday, when it was wetter. On the first stage of the final loop we had a spin, but luckily we did not lose too much time. Right up to the end it was a very intense fight with Nicolas, so we had to be really careful on the last couple of stages not to throw it all away. This win has been a long time coming and now I aim to do it again in Sanremo, which is one of my favourite rallies."
-Giandomenico Basso, Abarth driver

"In the morning I didn't have so much confidence, as we had a lot of understeer even though we were on the same tyres as Giandomenico. Then I felt slightly more confident in the afternoon but it was too late. We tried to push as hard as we could in order to make up the time, but Giandomenico drove very well today and the gap was too big. I'm happy with second place on what has been a really complicated rally with the changing weather: it's another podium finish and it puts us in a good position for the championship."
-Nicolas Vouilloz, Peugeot Belgium driver

"We made up a lot of time last night by going for a slick tyre in drying conditions, but all that was undone today when we had a power steering problem. Right at the end of the second stage I turned the steering-wheel for a left-hand corner and nothing much happened: we just slid off the road. Afterwards we realised it was a power-steering problem, which we had to cope with on the next stage as well. From then on, it was a question of just trying to make the podium and secure as many points as possible, which luckily we were able to do."
-Freddy Loix, Peugeot Belgium driver

"In the IRC we are becoming accustomed to very close finishes now, right down to the last tenths of a second. The fact that Basso and Vouilloz finished Friday's leg one with the same total time, and then set exactly the same stage time on the last stage of the rally shows just how evenly-matched this exciting competition was, from the very start to the very end. It's a credit not only to the IRC series, but to the drivers and teams who participate in it and put on such a great show for us."
Jean-Pierre Nicolas, IRC Motorsport Development Manager