Until 12:00 CET tomorrow (Friday), fans can vote for Giandomenico Basso, the two-time European champion from Italy, or Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the only driver in history to win three ERC titles in succession.
As part of the FIA European Rally Championship’s 70th-anniversary celebrations, 16 drivers were originally selected for the ERC Greatest Driver vote with FIAERC.com taking a data-based approach to pick out 12 drivers who have won the coveted European Rally Championship at least two times.
Four wildcards, based on their impact during a certain ERC era, were also selected with Basso and Kajetanowicz making it through to the grand finale following three weeks of voting.
The ERC Greatest Driver finalists
Still going strong after ERC title double
Giandomenico Basso (above) might have turned 50 earlier this year but he’s still going strong with his second-place finish on July’s ERC-counting Rally di Roma Capitale proof that his pace remains potent. European champion in 2006 and again in 2009 driving for the factory Abarth team, the Italian was a rapid exponent of Fiat’s Punto Super 1600 before he stepped up to the Super 2000 equivalent. Twenty wins and 32 podiums from 52 starts are impressive statistics for a driver who also finds time to coach the next generation of talent, including rising star Alberto Battistolli. Basso secured his place in the final after defeating Fabrizio Tabaton in the all-Italian semi-final on Tuesday.
Route to the final:
Round of 16 versus Simon Jean-Joseph: Wins with 75 % of the vote
Quarter-final versus Dario Cerrato: Wins with 97 % of the vote
Semi-final versus Fabrizio Tabaton: Wins with 74 % of the vote
Three-in-a-row from the Polish prince who became King Kajto
While three drivers have won the ERC title three times, only Kajetan Kajetanowicz (above) has achieved the feat consecutively, the Pole locking out the silverware between 2015-2017. ‘Kajto’ emerged as a contender when he scored the first win for an R5 car in the ERC after battling the elements to triumph on Rally Poland in 2013. He celebrated his maiden ERC crown in the Acropolis Rally service park as the event winner after heavy rain prevented the 2015 edition from running its course. He took a second Acropolis victory in 2017, one of seven notched up from 39 ERC starts. He’s since gone on to star in WRC2 and became the inaugural FIA WRC2 Challenger champion on Forum8 Rally Japan earlier this month. He secured his place in the ERC Greatest Driver deciding vote at the expense of Polish legend and fellow three-time champion Sobiesław Zasada in Monday’s first semi-final.
Route to the final:
Round of 16 versus Jan Kopecký: Wins with 68 % of the vote
Quarter-final versus Luca Rossetti: Wins with 80 % of the vote
Semi-final versus Sobiesław Zasada: Wins with 79 % of the vote
Finland
Italy
Hungary