The Abarth team will face a double duty this weekend, for it will participate in the Rally Vinho da Madeira, the seventh round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge which takes place in Portugal, and in the Rally Finland, which counts towards the World Rally Championship.
The official line-up for Madeira Rally includes reigning European Champion Luca Rossetti. Alongside co-driver Matteo Chiarcossi, he will assist Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta who are in contention for the championship.
Anton Alén, Basso's usual team-mate in the IRC, will enter Rally Finland in a works Grande Punto Abarth S2000. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro works driver Kimi Räikkönen will drive another Grande Punto Abarth S2000. This will be the Formula 1 driver's fourth rally as he already took part in two winter events on snow and ice, the Artic Rally and the Vaakuna Rally in Finland, as well as in the Rally della Marca Trevigiana, an all-asphalt event in Italy. He will be co-driven by Kaj Lindström, who formerly partnered multiple World Champion Tommi Mäkinen.
Basso to star at Madeira Rally
On the Portuguese Island in the Atlantic, Basso's fans are countless. He won their esteem for his spectacular and go-getter drive that allowed him to win in 2006 and 2007, while he missed victory by a narrow margin in last year's edition, still in a Grande Punto Abarth S2000 and always against fierce opposition from a lot of talented rivals. After winning recently the all-asphalt Targa Florio in his bid to grab the Italian Championship title, Luca Rossetti will back him up.
Their main rivals are the Peugeot works drivers Nicolas Vouilloz, Freddy Loix and Chris Meeke, Brit Guy Wilks with a Proton, Frenchman Julien Maurin with a Skoda, plus various local drivers who are always very competitive on their home roads, such as Bernardo Sousa, who drives a Grande Punto Abarth S2000.
Also at the start will be the private Fiat Punto Abarth of Manuel Villa who leads the IRC 2 Wheel Drive standings.
The all-asphalt Portuguese event features particularly twisting roads. It kicks off from Funchal tonight (Thursday 31 July) at 5:00pm (6:00pm CET) with a ceremonial start and a spectators special stage. The first leg is scheduled for Friday 31 July starting at 8:00am and finishing at 8:14pm, with 12 special stages totalling 290 kilometres, of which 183 kilometres against the stopwatch. The last part of the race takes place on Saturday 1 August from 8:11am and draws to a close at 6:00pm, after eight more special stages for a total of 120 kilometres.
The "rally of the 1000 jumps" in Finland
It is considered as a specialists' affair and it's no coincidence that it has only been won by few non-Finnish drivers. The course is indeed definitely special and features very fast gravel roads, with heaps of jumps that are just as spectacular as they are treacherous. Two years ago, youngster Anton Alén went away with the highest number of special stage wins in the Production class in his Grande Punto Abarth S2000.
The event includes three legs. The first one takes place on Friday 31 July, the second one on Saturday 1 August and the third one on Sunday 2. There are 23 special stages totalling 345 competitive kilometres for a total distance of 1449 kilometres.
Turin, 30 July 2009.
International
