After the victory of the Grande Punto Abarth driven by Andrea Navarra with Guido D’Amore in the Safari Rally, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge goes to Turkey this weekend for its second event, the Fiat Rally, which also counts towards the European Championship.
Three Grande Punto Abarths will be taking part in the rally. In addition to championship leader Navarra, also competing are the Turkish driver Volkan Isik, currently fourth in the European Championship, and the young Finn Anton Alen, whose father Markku was a legendary rally champion in the 1970s and 1980s, also at the wheel of Abarths. This will be the 23-year-old Anton Alen’s debut in an Abarth badged car.
The Grande Punto Abarth will be facing serious competition in Turkey, including the two works Peugeot 207s driven by Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz and Spanish driver Enrique Garcia Ojeda, the Mitsubishi Lancers driven by Renato Travaglia and the Bulgarian Dimitar Iliev, the Citroën C2 driven by French driver Simon Jean-Joseph and the Honda Civics driven by Spanish driver Dani Sola and Luca Betti.
The gruelling Fiat Rally starts in Istanbul tomorrow (Friday May 11) at 6 pm with a special showcase stage. The first leg sets off on Saturday at 6:45 am and finishes at 6:45 pm after ten special stages for a total of 138 Km of speed trials. The second leg starts on 7:50 am on Sunday, finishing at 4 pm, with competitors tackling a further eight special stages for a total of 112 Km of speed trials. Overall the rally measures 807 Km in length, 250 of which timed trials on dirt.
Standings, Intercontinental Rally Challenge Drivers’ Championship
1. Andrea Navarra (Grande Punto Abarth) 10 points; 2. Hideaki Miyoshi (Mitsubishi Lancer) 8; 3. Asad Anwar (Mitsubishi Lancer) 6; 4. Sammy Aslam (Mitsubishi Lancer) 5; 5. Robert Gow (Mitsubishi Lancer) 4; 6. Navraj Hans (Mitsubishi Lancer) 3.
European Championship standings: 1. Iliev (Mitsubishi) 15 points; 2. Solowow (Grande Punto Abarth) 8; 3. Travaglia (Mitsubishi) 3; 4. Isik (Grande Punto Abarth) 2; 5. Jean-Joseph (Citroën) and Fontana (Grande Punto Abarth) 1.
International
