FIAT Freestyle Team is official sponsor of ‘Vans Downtown Showdown 2013’

• The 12 best skate teams in the world head to head on 31 August in Paris
• The FIAT Freestyle Team's fleet of Panda 4×4s, Freemonts, Qubos and Doblòs in attendance

FIAT Freestyle Team is official sponsor of 'Vans Downtown Showdown 2013', the highly anticipated skateboard contest slated for 31 August in Paris, in the exclusive setting of La Grande Halle de la Villette. The FIAT Freestyle Team's fleet of Fiat Qubos, Fiat Doblòs, Fiat Panda 4×4s and Fiat Freemonts will be at the prestigious event, accompanying skaters, press and staff everywhere they go in the French capital.

Now in its fifth edition, the 'Vans Downtown Showdown' will bring together the 12 best skate teams in the world from Europe, the USA and South America, ready to compete on a series of structures created by themselves. 50,000 euros of prize money will go to the best. The skateboard contest will be accompanied by a packed schedule of performance art, exhibitions, creative workshops and many other activities to involve the public.

Conceived in 2004, the 'Vans Downtown Showdown' was held at the Paramount Studios, Hollywood for four years running and met with enormous success. The contest made its European début in 2009 and, thanks to the international partnership between Vans and FIAT Freestyle Team, it was hosted in Turin in an outstanding location: the roof of the Lingotto, a historic Fiat location where cars were once tested on its spectacular track but which was also used as a set for "The Italian Job".

Having secured its place in skateboarding history, the 'Vans Downtown Showdown' made its way to Hamburg, London and Amsterdam in the following years, giving space to the skaters capturing the most attention at the time as well as genuine legends of the calibre of Tony Alva, Ray Barbee and Steve Caballero.

Free to the public, the event in Paris will also be streamed live at downtownshowdown.eu.

Turin, 30 August 2013