The Abarth lineup on the Mille Miglia will be completed by FIA ERC regulars Volkan Işık and Kaan Özşenler in their Fiat Motorsports Turkey run Grande Punto S2000.

Five Grande Punto Abarths line up today to take the start of the 32nd Rally Mille Miglia, third round of the Campionato Italiano Rally 2008 and second round of the European Rally Championship, with Giandomenico Basso spearheading the attack alongside CIR regulars Andrea Navarra and Renato Travaglia.

Going into the rally, Piero Longhi and Maurizio Imerito headed the championship standings in their Aimont Racing-run Subaru Impreza STI Spec C. The pair were sitting on 15 points after winning the first two rounds of the championship, the Rally del Ciocco and Rally di San Marino (half points being allocated on the former event due to its stoppage on the first day, after a tragic accident which killed a spectator). Longhi and team-mate Andrea Aghini would line up for the Rally Mille Miglia in the latest-specification N14 Imprezas, after some delays caused by ECU problems on the new cars.

Behind Longhi in the CIR standings, sitting on 12 points after a pair of second places, lay Luca Rossetti and Matteo Chiarcossi, winners of the recent Istanbul Rally, in their Peugeot 207 S2000. Currently heading both the IRC and ERC standings, the pair were looking for a strong result to consolidate their challenge for the Italian title.

In the event’s 31-year history, Fiat-Abarth has won the Rally Mille Miglia four times, putting them equal with Ford and behind only Lancia (11 wins) in terms of victories on the event. In 2008, they were hoping to replicate some of that success. Abarth had endured a relatively slow start to the year, with their two official drivers, Andrea Navarra and Renato Travaglia, sitting only fourth and seventh respectively heading into the Rally Mille Miglia. Travaglia and co-driver Lorenzo Granai had been sitting in third place at the time of the Rally del Ciocco’s stoppage, netting three points, but a mechanical failure on the Rally San Marino had meant a zero points haul from the second round, which was run in torrential rain. Meanwhile, Navarra, sitting alongside regular co-driver Guido D’Amore, had secured fifth place on the opening event, followed by fourth on the Rally di San Marino; with Travaglia debuting a brand-new car, both were hoping to improve on the asphalt roads which make up the stages of the Rally Mille Miglia.

In addition to the two official entries, Abarth would be represented by Giandomenico Basso and Mitia Dotta, who were hoping to secure solid points towards the ERC following an early exit in the Istanbul Rally. The car was another brand-new chassis, belonging to Trico but entered by the Movisport team. Basso’s Abarth IRC team-mate Anton Alén would likewise roll onto the start ramp on Thursday, in the Procar Grande Punto which Dani Solà took to sixth place in Turkey. However, the car – still complete with gravel-spec suspension – would be retired immediately afterwards, as its entry was designed purely to facilitate Alén’s quest for ERC qualification.

With Poles Michał Sołowow and Maciek Baran having substituted their usual Grande Punto S2000 in favour of a Peugeot 207, the Abarth lineup was completed by ERC regulars Volkan Işık and Kaan Özşenler in their Fiat Motorsports Turkey Grande Punto S2000, and Corrado Fontana and Renzo Casazza in a similar machine prepared by Grifone. The outing would be the first in 2008 for Fontana, while Işık was looking to improve on the seventh place he secured in Turkey. Other contenders would include CIR regulars Luca Cantamessa (Mitsubishi Lancer), Paolo Andreucci (Mitsubishi Lancer), Alessandro Perico (Peugeot 207), Tobia Cavallini (Peugeot 207), Marco Signor (Mitsubishi Lancer), Andrea Dallavilla (Peugeot 207), Giovanni Manfrinato (Mitsubishi Lancer), Luca Betti (Mitsubishi Lancer), Fabio Gianfico (Mitsubishi Lancer), and Bulgarian ERC contender Krum Donchev (Subaru Impreza), as well as Pole Tomasz Czopik (Mitsubishi Lancer). 

by Shant Fabricatorian