The rebirth of the legendary Abarth concern has been one of the most exciting projects launched by Fiat in recent years, and in Frankfurt the evocative scorpion brand is celebrating a stunningly successful return to the rally stages by showing the awesome Super2000 machine alongside the wild road-going 'essesse' concept.

The Grande Punto Abarth S2000 couldn't have made a better start to its rallying career. On its debut year in 2006 it won the Italian (CIR), European and Intercontinental (IRC) titles. Later this month it is poised to seal the Italian championship for a second consecutive year, while in the IRC a titanic scrap for honours with Peugeot is well underway. Race and rally participation is fundamental to the revival of the Abarth brand, "motorsport for Abarth is like motorsport for Ferrari, its a part of its life," Abarth competitions' director Claudio Berro told Italiaspeed on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Motor Show.

It is in the IRC though where all attention is currently focused, as Abarth and Peugeot are locked in a season-long struggle for the drivers' and manufacturers' titles. After a disappointing performance during the last round, the advantage has tilted slightly towards the French firm, but the next round, the Sanremo Rally, which will be contested at the end of the month, is on Abarth's home turf and a titanic scrap for victory is expected. "We have [Giandomenico] Basso, [Andrea] Navarra, [Umberto] Scandola; then we have Freddie Loix from Belgium and I'm quite sure, though not 100 percent, Renato Travaglia," says Berro. "We need for Sanremo five strong asphalt drivers."

Youngster Umberto Scandola will be back in a factory-run Grande Punto on the IRC for the first time since the Belgium Ypres Rally. The young Italian contested the Sanremo Rally in a Grande Punto Abarth for the first time last year, finishing in sixth place. The Abarth factory line-up will thus consist of Navarra, who is currently just five points off the series lead, Madeira Rally winner Basso, and Scandola. Anton Alén, who made his asphalt debut for Abarth on the Barum Rally Zlín, will not be driving in Sanremo, but could yet return for the Rallye du Valais in Switzerland next month. For Basso, the Sanremo Rally will be crucial as he stands a very good chance of wrapping up the Italian Rally Championship for the second consecutive year.

"There will be a lot of cars from Peugeot so Sanremo will be exciting for everyone; Sanremo is important for us for two reasons, we have the Italian rally championship and we have the IRC and so two challenges in one race," adds Berro.
 

It will be a weekend of huge importance and more than 100 cars are expected to take the start of the Sanremo Rally on Thursday September 27. The Eurosport-organised IRC, now in its second season, has been a real success, and is expected to grow and gain even more stature next year. "We will be meeting with the other manufacturers in Sanremo," continues Berro, "we need to fix the calendar for 2008, the discussion is for around 10 races and there are a lot of requests from rallies to have an IRC programme.

He's pretty pleased with the way the series has shaped up: "For me the IRC is a fantastic opportunity, you compete in every rally with different scenarios, different rules; every rally has proper characteristics, like Safari, Ypres, Barum, Madeira, Sanremo. Its a very challenging series." Berro continues: "We have sold 25 cars, and we will produce around another 25 cars in time for 2008." There will be "some detail homologation changes [for 2008] but no big changes for the IRC." He also adds that while Basso is under contract for next year, Abarth's full plans for 2008 will be announced "around Sanremo."

While Abarth & Co.'s currently programme involves the Super2000 Grand Punto Abarth, and new Italian 'Trofeo' series which is reserved for the new 1.9 Multijet-powered rally car, Berro comments that the 500 is expected to imminently join the Abarth fold, reviving a tradition that saw Carlo Abarth cutting his teeth and making a name for himself by tuning the original model: "The fiat 500 will be a fantastic car for young drivers to start, with a [grassroots] series in Italy, and even outside Italy." However Berro states that the 500 will be seen "not only rallying", and professes himself very keen to see, the "beautiful 500" as he refers to it, in action on the most prestigious of the European race tracks: "Nürburgring, Monza and Spa." He adds: "At the moment its not in the plan, but we have started some discussions."

Berro also says that there will be no Alfa Romeo involvement in the FIA World Touring Car Championship next year "because we don't have a suitable car" and the Alfa Romeo's competition programme will be low-key, and customer-orientated in the short-term future as they rebuild Alfa Corse from the ground up, creating a solid base with the right personnel from which to launch future international challenges.