Massimo "Miki" Biasion (born 7 January 1958) is an Italian rally driver, two-time World Rally champion.

Career

Biasion was born in Bassano del Grappa, Veneto.

Biasion came to prominence in the early 1980s, winning both the Italian and European Rally Championships in 1983, driving a Lancia 037. He began competing in 1979, in an Opel Kadett GT/E. He was later drafted in to play a key role for the works Lancia World Rally Championship team in the mid-1980s as the squad sought to regroup after previous star driver Henri Toivonen's fatal crash, and would go on to dominate early Group A rallying, taking the world championship in the years 1988 and 1989. At his peak, Biasion was notching victories in almost three quarters of all events he entered. He also was only the second driver to successfully defend his title (after Juha Kankkunen) and the third one to win two titles (after Kankkunen and Walter Röhrl).

After his championship years, Biasion was never able to achieve that level of success again. He failed to win an event for Lancia in 1991, and switched to Ford for 1992 on a contract that made him the highest-paid driver of his day, and gave him some managerial input. The optimism did not last. Biasion reputedly described the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4 as "a pile of shit" after his first event for the team (the 1992 Monte Carlo Rally), although on the Portuguese Rally he did give the car its best WRC result by finishing second. The following year, driving the new Ford Escort RS Cosworth, he won the Acropolis Rally and led the driver's championship for part of the season.

Throughout Biasion's tenure at Ford he was overshadowed by the younger François Delecour, who generally proved to be faster, especially on tarmac. Moreover, Delecour's road accident, which forced him to sit out much of the 1994 season, exposed the weaknesses in the team. Insufficient resources meant that development of the Escort slipped behind its rivals, and Biasion's relationship with the team worsened as the season progressed. He was subsequently dropped for the following year. After contesting a couple of rallies for private teams, he retired quietly at the end of the 1995 season (his two last WRC events were part of the 2LWC prior to the late Colin McRae's honor as 1995 World Rally Champion, but this truly last WRC event was the RAC (now Wales Rally GB) in 1994 when it was won by McRae himself and Didier Auriol's honor as 1994 World Rally Champion).

Throughout his entire career he was co-driven by Tiziano Siviero, the sole exception being the Portuguese Rally of 1988, where Siviero was replaced by Carlo Cassina due to health problems.

He drove for the works Mitsubishi team on the Dakar rally in both 2003 and 2004. In 2003, he finished the event's penultimate stage in third place, but his gearbox seized on the podium. Trying to move and fix the car in that area resulted in a 10-hour penalty. He fell from what was a podium in overall rally time to outside the top 10 in the final standings. In 2004, a roll ended his event - despite making it to service, the team could not fix the Pajero well enough to continue.

He returned to the event in 2006, this time in the truck category. He drove for the manufacturer Iveco team, alongside team-mate Markku Alén. In 2007, he was part of the manufacturer Fiat team, running the diminutive Panda 4x4 ('PanDakar') on the event, alongside team-mate Bruno Saby. He would once again return in the works Iveco team for the 2012 Dakar Rally, winning three stages and finishing sixth overall.

Biasion won the World Truck Championship in 1998 and 1999 driving an Iveco.

Personal life Biasion was married to Italian rally driver Chantal Galli, who won the Italian women's rally championship several times. They had four children, named Bettina, Isotta, Jacobo, and Olivia. The pair are now divorced, and Biasion is currently married to Paola.

WRC victories  # EventSeasonCo-driverCar 1 Rally Argentina 1986 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta S4 2 Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo 1987 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta HF 4WD 3 Rally Argentina 1987 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta HF 4WD 4 Rallye Sanremo 1987 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta HF 4WD 5 Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 1988 Carlo Cassina Lancia Delta Integrale 6 Safari Rally 1988 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 7 Acropolis Rally 1988 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 8 Olympus Rally 1988 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 9 Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia 1988 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 10 Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo 1989 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 11 Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 1989 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 12 Safari Rally 1989 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 13 Acropolis Rally 1989 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 14 Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia 1989 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 16V 15 Rally de Portugal Vinho do Porto 1990 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 16V 16 Rally Argentina 1990 Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta Integrale 16V 17 Acropolis Rally 1993 Tiziano Siviero Ford Escort RS Cosworth

Complete WRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points 1980 Miki Biasion Opel Ascona MON SWE POR KEN GRC ARG FIN NZL ITARet FRA GBR CIV - 0 1981 Hawk Racing Club Opel Ascona 400 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC ARG BRA FIN ITA6 CIV GBR 33rd 6 1982 Conrero Opel Ascona 400 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL BRA FIN ITA8 CIV GBR 49th 3 1983 Jolly Club Totip Lancia Rally 037 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN ITA5 CIV GBR 21st 8 1984 Jolly Club Totip Lancia Rally 037 MON6 SWE POR4 KEN FRA2 GRCRet NZL ARG FIN ITA3 CIV GBR 6th 43 1985 Jolly Club Lancia Rally 037 MON9 SWE POR2 KEN FRARet GRC NZL ARG FIN ITA6 CIV GBR 12th 23 1986 Martini Lancia Lancia Delta S4 MONRet SWE PORRet FRARet GRC2 NZL3 ARG1 FIN CIV ITA3 GBR USA 5th 47Lancia Rally 037 KENRet 1987 Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD MON1 SWE POR8 KEN FRA3 GRC7 USA2 NZL ARG1 FIN CIV ITA1 GBR 2nd 94 1988 Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD MONRetSWE 1st 115Lancia Delta Integrale POR1 KEN1 FRA GRC1 USA1 NZLARG2 FIN CIV ITA1 GBR 1989 Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale SWE MON1 POR1 KEN1 FRA GRC1 NZL ARG FIN6 AUS 1st 106Lancia Delta Integrale 16V ITA1 CIV GBR 1990 Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 16V MON3 POR1 KENRet FRA GRC3 NZL ARG1 FIN AUS ITARet CIV GBR3 4th 76 1991 Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 16V MON2 SWE POR3 KENRet FRA GRC3 NZL ARG2 FIN AUS ITA2 CIV ESP GBRRet 4th 69 1992 Ford Motor Co Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4 MON8 SWE POR2 KEN FRA7 GRC3 NZL ARG FIN5 AUS ITA4 CIV ESP GBR5 4th 60 1993 Ford Motor Co Ford Escort RS Cosworth MON3 SWE POR2 KEN FRA7 GRC1 ARG2 NZLRet FIN AUSRet ITARet ESP4 GBR 4th 76 1994 Ford Motor Co Ford Escort RS Cosworth MON4 POR3 KEN FRA5 GRCRet ARGRet NZLRet FIN ITA3 GBRRet 6th 42

The results of the 1986 Rallye Sanremo were annulled by the FIA.

References

External links

Biasion at RallyBase Biasion at World Rally Archive