The Abarth team has just completed five days of testing with the Grande Punto on asphalt, as it gears up to the first sealed-surface round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in Belgium. The team's drivers used a variety of asphalt roads in Italy in order to acclimatise themselves fully to the latest developments on the Grande Punto in preparation for the Belgium Rally of Ypres from June 22-24.

Team manager Nic Gullino commented: “In the five days that we were running, we managed to cover a considerable number of kilometres, and throughout all that time our car was perfectly reliable. The objective of the test was to continue the asphalt development of the Grande Punto - which is still a relatively new car -and to get our drivers back into the rhythm of driving on asphalt. In both these important objectives we succeeded. I am happy with the work we have done, and we can approach the Belgium Rally of Ypres in a positive frame of mind now.”

Prior to the rally, Abarth will complete two more days of testing on Belgian roads with Andrea Navarra and Umberto Scandola. “The roads we used in Italy were nothing like as specific as the roads we will find in Belgium,” explained Gullino. “The test in Belgium will be designed to give our drivers some direct experience of the exact conditions they are likely to face.”

The Abarth team will go into the third round of the IRC in Belgium next month in command at the top of both the drivers' and manufacturers' championship points standings. Navarra has 18 points in the drivers' series after finishing first on the Safari (10 pts) and second in Turkey (8 pts), the two IRC rounds held so far.
 

Second in the drivers' standings is Peugeot driver Nicolas Vouilloz, thanks to the 10 points he collected from the last round in Turkey. Anton Alen is in 7th place with 5 points. In the manufacturers' standings Abarth are also in control with 23 points, ahead of Mitsubishi (20) and Peugeot (16).

Meanwhile the IRC-counting Rally Russia, scheduled for July 13-14, is to stage a spectacular start ceremony in the historic city of St Petersburg, 120 kilometres away from the rally headquarters in Vyborg. The exact location for the ceremony is yet to be finalised, but the organisers plan to showcase some of St Petersburg’s best-known monuments. A spokesman for the event commented: “We want to show Russia at its best, and this is why we have chosen St Petersburg for the start. We are aiming to put in place a special occasion, which both photographers and the public will love.”

The actual stages of the rally run close to the Finnish border, and are characterised by fast roads with sweeping gravel crests. Abarth factory driver Anton Alen commented: “I have been told that the stages are a bit like those we have at home in Finland - if so, I expect them to be very good for us. I’m looking forward to Russia a lot.”