Sabelt was present during Autosport International at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham showing a Grande Punto Abarth S2000 rally machine as it celebrates a new partnership with Abarth.

Two leading Italian companies Brembo and Sabelt have been selected by Fiat to take part in the re-launching of the historic Abarth brand. Brembo and Sabelt will deal with co-designing the product concept jointly with Fiat, ensuring manufacturing in their own factories, and handling customer logistics up to product delivery to authorised dealers and garages.

Within the Abarth kit and accessories program the new partners will develop a complete range of products which will include the interiors and exterior, and will go beyond the classical components currently offered by the two companies. The Grande Punto Abarth S2000 cars which will be campaigned by Giandomenico Basso and Anton Alén in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge this year will be equipped by Sabelt, as will be the competition 500 Abarths which are presently in the pipeline.

To celebrate this new partnership, and another highly successful year on the race tracks, Sabelt was present during last weekend's Autosport International motor sports show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. A large and well presented stand was headlined by an Abarth factory Grande Punto Abarth S2000 rally car as well as a wide selection of the Italian company's latest race and rally products.

Sabelt will head into the coming season following a hugely successful 2007. Last year the firm strapped in Kimi Raikkonen as he raced to a sensational last gasp F1 World Championship title, while at the same time helping Ferrari to claim the Constructors' cup. Meanwhile, they also equipped Ford who won the FIA World Rally Championship with Sebastien Loeb. Sabelt is also partner of many other cars and drivers that have won national competitions. An example is Marco Silva and Gianni Pina’s Peugeot 307 WRC. The driver from Como won the latest Italian road racing championship, a success he had missed out on at the last race in 2006.

Sabelt has also crossed the Atlantic to participate in the NASCAR Busch Series and helped Carl Edwards of the Roush Team to win the championship. It was a great victory as well as an important success for Sabelt, which entered in this Series two years ago. In addition to the victory in the Busch Series, Sabelt drivers also gained 7 victories, 4 poles and 10 podiums in the Nextel Cup Series.

Off the track it was a busy year too. Last May, Sabelt Fashion was created in order to manage the company's leisure footwear, clothing and accessories sector on a worldwide basis. This was made possible thanks to a joint venture with Zeis. In addition, according to this joint venture, the opening of several prestigious one-brand outlets in Italy and abroad, especially in France, Spain and Germany, is expected. The first good result of this alliance came from Pitti Immagine Uomo, the fashion fair held in Florence. On this occasion the new spring-summer 2008 "Sabelt Performance" collection was launched.

In the automotive sector September saw the new joint-venture with Brembo being established. Brembo, a leader in the production of vehicles with high performance braking systems, and Sabelt, a leader in the production of racing seatbelts and children-safety devices, signed a letter of intent. This letter aims to see them integrate and develop their own businesses in the automotive sector, through a company named Brembo Performance. This industrial partnership has been conceived and sponsored by Brembo and Sabelt in order to better combine the two historical companies’ traditions and technological heritage in the safety sector. This partnership success resulted in the invitation by Fiat to participate in the relaunching of the historic Abarth brand.

Brembo and Sabelt will deal with co-designing the product concept jointly with Fiat, and will then carry out the manufacturing in their own factories, as well as handling customer logistics up to product delivery to authorised dealers and garages. In addition Sabelt has signed a licence agreement with Abarth for the developing, producing, distributing and marketing of racing clothing and sportswear.