The end of the first leg of the Fiat Rally of Turkey, which counts towards both the International Rally Challenge and the European Championship, has ended with the Grande Punto Abarth driven by the young Finn Anton Alen – whose father Markku was a celebrated rally driver from the 1970s and 1980s – in the lead, with an advantage of 17.2 seconds over the Peugeot 207 driven by the Spanish driver Ojeda. In third place, behind Ojeda, is another Grande Punto Abarth, driven by Turkish driver Volkan Isik.
After getting yesterday’s opening showcase super-special out of the way, the first leg of the Fiat Rally of Turkey set off today, with a series of very fast special stages on dirt and gravel around the city of Istanbul. Making his debut in the Grande Punto Abarth, Anton Alen immediately set aside any apprehension and started climbing his way up the results table. Already third after the first proper timed stage and second after the next, halfway through the leg, the twenty-three-year-old son of the legendary Markku had taken the lead, and held on to the position throughout the rest of the day.
“It was a good day and I felt very comfortable with the Grande Punto: the car is very competitive and I tried to make full use of its potential!” said the young driver at the end of the day, commenting on a provisional results table with him in the lead, 17.2 seconds ahead of Spanish driver Ojeda (Peugeot 207) and 29.2 seconds ahead of Volkan Isik, driving a Grande Punto entered by Fiat Turkey.
In spite of the disadvantage of starting first, Andrea Navarra also fared reasonably well, finishing fifth. “During the first part of the leg,” said the Cesana-born Abarth driver, “loose gravel on the roads caused me a lot of problems. Things improved in the second part of the leg, however, and I’m optimistic about tomorrow.”
The first leg of the rally was very close, with less than a minute separating the first six drivers – three of them driving Grande Punto Abarths. The rally ends tomorrow with another eight special stages, for a total of 112 Km of speed trials.
Standings after the 1st leg:
1. Alen-Alanne (Grande Punto Abarth), 1h 21m 03.0s; 2. Ojeda-Costa (Peugeot 207) +17.2; 3. Isik-Ozsenler (Grande Punto Abarth) +29.2s; 4. Vouilloz-Klinger (Peugeot 207) +29.8s; 5. Navarra-D’Amore (Grande Punto Abarth) +45.4s.
Turin, May 12, 2007
International
