Abarth’s first weekend of racing promises to be an exciting one, with the team competing in two rallies simultaneously: the Safari Rally, the first event in the International Rally Challenge, and the Ciocco Rally, the opening event in the Italian Championship. Both start on Friday March 9 and conclude on Sunday 11.
Two Grande Punto Abarths have been entered in the 55th Safari Rally, one driven by Andrea Navarra, teamed up with Guido D’Amore, and the other by young Umberto Scandola who will be closely monitored by the Federation because he is participating as part of the AciCsai Youth Project. Scandola will team up with the experienced Gigi Pirollo.
The Safari Rally is a legend for all rally fans, because of the harshness and difficulties of the route, which wanders down the dirt tracks of Kenya near the capital Nairobi. The race will, as usual, start from the Kenyatta Centre, at 3 pm on Friday March 9. The second leg will be run on Saturday, starting at 7 am and concluding at 5 pm after 10 special stages. The third leg will be disputed on Sunday March 11, starting at the same time, and the race will conclude in Nairobi at 3.10 pm. There will be a total of almost 300 km of special stages, over a total distance of 725 km. With its new formula, which focuses attention on the performance of the cars, the Safari Rally has regained a prestigious place on the international calendar as the opening event of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the championship which Fiat won in its first year, 2006, with Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta in a Grande Punto Abarth.
This season, Basso and Dotta will defend the Italian title won by the Grande Punto Abarth in 2006, competing in the Ciocco Rally, which will be run on paved roads in Tuscany.
The great novelty in the Italian Championship will be the presence of the Grande Punto 1.9 Multijet Sport powered by a diesel engine and driven by Davide Gatti, winner of the Fiat Abarth Internazionale 2006 Trophy, who is now a member of the official team.
The Ciocco Rally sets off from Castelnuovo Garfagnana at 6.31 pm on Friday March 9, with a special demonstration stage. The first real leg will be run on the following day, starting at 8.30 am and terminating at 5.35 pm, after 9 specials. The second leg will start at 8 am on Sunday, and conclude at 2.30 pm, after another 4 special stages. The race will tackle a total of 509 km, 187 of which of “timed speed”.
Turin, March 8, 2007
International
