When Didier Auriol gets behind the wheel of the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 in Portugal in May, he will be renewing a former partnership with the Fiat Group that proved to be hugely rewarding, although it didn't bring a world title.

Didier Auriol, who claimed the FIA World Rally Championship in 1994, is set to become the first former World Rally Champion to join the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and at the same time renew a former very successful relationship with the Fiat Group.

Auriol is scheduled to drive a privately-run Abarth Grande Punto on the Vodafone Rally of Portugal from May 8-10 and he is not excluding the possibility of further outings in the car, depending on budget. The Frenchman will be navigated by his long-time partner Denis Giraudet.

“There are still some details to finalise with this deal, but I’m feeling reasonably confident that it will go ahead,” said the 49 year-old, who has been out of full-time competition since the end of 2003. “I’ve got absolutely no idea how I will compare to the younger guys who have been driving Super 2000 cars all the time: it will be very interesting for me to find out. Of course I am only driving for fun, but you always want to be competitive.”

Auriol, who was France’s very first FIA World Rally Champion (WRC), took the first of his twenty WRC wins in 1988 on the Tour de Corse, an event he that would go on to win a further six times during a career that saw him winning world events until the early years of this decade. He eventually competed in 152 WRC events, and claiming the title in 1994 with the Toyota team. Other factory teams he drove for on the world stage include Lancia, Peugeot, Ford, SEAT and Skoda. In 1992 he won an unprecedented six WRC events, breaking the record for the most number of rallies won in one season, a honour that he held until three years ago.

When the Frenchman gets behind the wheel of the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 in Portugal in May, he will be renewing a former partnership with the Fiat Group that proved to be hugely rewarding, although it didn't bring a world title. Following his exploits for Ford in 1988 (during which time he won his first WRC event), Auriol signed for the Martini-backed factory Lancia squad in 1989, where he enjoyed four years of success. In 1989 he won the Tour de Corse, while the next year he repeated this feat, as well as adding victory on the Rally Sanremo. In 1991 he raced to victory again in San Remo, before his final year at Lancia (1992) saw him taking an unprecedented series of six wins (Monte Carlo, Tour de Corse, Acropolis, Argentina, 1000 Lakes and Australia).