Strong support for Abarth's attempts to maximise the manufacturers' points it collects on the Istanbul Rally will come from experienced local rally star Volkan Isik, who will drive a Fiat Motorsports Turkey entered Grande Punto Abarth S2000. Leading the 58 runners down the starting ramp in Istanbul the day after tomorrow at no 1 will be the Abarth factory-entered Grande Punto Abarth S2000 driven by Italian Giandomenico Basso.

The 2008 IRC season gets underway with the Istanbul Rally this weekend, based in Turkey’s historic capital where Europe meets Asia. The all-gravel event formed the second round of the IRC last year, but this time it opens the series.

As well as being the opening IRC round, the Istanbul Rally will kick off the European Rally Championship (ERC) and the Arkas Otomotiv Turkish Rally Championship and the 58 crews which will line up at the starting ramp on Friday evening will be drawn from 11 different nations, the 20 foreign crews coming from Italy, France, Finland, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, and Iran.

Leading the 58 runners down the starting ramp the day after tomorrow at no 1 will be the Abarth factory-entered Grande Punto Abarth S2000 driven by the highly experienced Italian Giandomenico Basso. Finnish team mate Anton Alén, a gravel specialist, is seeded at no 11 and these two top stars will be targeting nothing short of victory in Turkey as the seek to get their IRC title bid off to a flying start.

Strong support for Abarth's attempts to maximise the manufacturers' points on offer on the rally will come from Italian Renato Travaglia, who plans to mix a number of IRC events this year alongside a semi officially run Italian Rally Champion campaign; and local Turkish rally star Volkan Isik, who will drive a Fiat Motorsports Turkey entered Grande Punto Abarth. Also out to impress and prove his potential will be rapid Spaniard Dani Sola; in Turkey he will be making his first appearance at the wheel of the Grande Punto Abarth. Up against the Italian machines will be a string of highly regarded Super2000 Peugeot 207s, with Nicolas Vouilloz, Jan Kopecky, Freddie Loix and Luca Rossetti expected to provide the toughest of opposition.

The stages consist of some classic gravel roads, which are extremely varied in terms of speed and character. The surfaces are made up of fast but smooth gravel, which remains reasonably consistent even during the second run through the stages. Amongst the particular features of the rally are some water splashes, which form a spectacular highlight of the route.

In total there are 15 stages, split over two days of action, which total 255 competitive kilometres. The rally gets underway with a ceremonial start on Friday night in the centre of Istanbul, but the proper action starts on Saturday morning with the first of the special stages at 09:18. The opening leg will see the competitors tackle nine special stages, with three service halts in total during the day. Competitors return to parc ferme at 19:07, having completed the first 153 competitive kilometres of this challenging event.

The action resumes at 0850 the following morning, when the crews tackle a morning loop of three stages that is repeated in the afternoon, with central service at Pendik in between. The winner is scheduled to cross the finish ramp at 15:42, outside the Rally Headquarters near the service park. Weather conditions at this time of year are expected to be warm and dry, so tyre wear will be average to high. However, as is often the case in rallying, anything can happen. Last year’s event produced a tight and unpredictable battle to the finish, with the Abarth Grande Punto of Anton Alén losing his lead on the final afternoon due to brake problems in the tough conditions.