Career
Born at Bassano del Grappa, Biasion came to prominence in the early 1980s, winning both the Italian and European Rally Championships in 1983, driving a Lancia 037. 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.
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. 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.
Throughout his entire career he was co-driven by Tiziano Siviero, the exception being the Portuguese Rally of 1988, where Siviero was replaced by Carlo Cassina due to health problems. His presence in the starting grid of the Lisbon-Dakar 2007 has been announced. He will be driving a factory works Fiat Panda Cross.
1 The results of the 1986 Rallye Sanremo were annulled by the FIA.
