Abarth star in Monte Carlo Toni Gardemeister is hoping to return to the IRC this year and is in discussions with the Italian Astra Racing team about driving its Grande Punto Abarth on selected events, including the next round in Brazil

2007 F1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen has shown a deft hand at the wheel of a rally car finishing an impressive 13th overall in the first round of the Finnish Rally Championship the Arctic Lapland Rally in his Grande Punto Abarth

Photo Gallery: Arctic Lapland Rally - Kimi Raikkonen (Grande Punto Abarth S2000)

Just when it couldn't get any worse for Abarth, Anton Alén suffered a dramatic finish to the Monte Carlo Rally during the night, when his Grande Punto Abarth's clutch agonisingly failed on the road section back to the podium in Monaco

Hopes of an Abarth resurgence were dashed as the Monte Carlo Rally arrived at the Col du Turini with Giandomenico Basso and Anton Alén leading the surviving Italian cars home through the ice and darkness in fifth and sixth place

Photo Gallery: Intercontinental Rally Challenge Rd 1, 78th Monte Carlo Rally - Abarth (II)

The Monte Carlo Rally gods played their hand once again this morning, turning the leaderboard upside down in just one dramatic stage, elevating Abarth driver Toni Gardemeister into second place when all hope seemed lost

Photo Gallery: Intercontinental Rally Challenge Rd 1, 78th Monte Carlo Rally - Abarth (I)

After two days of fast paced action in icy conditions privateer Toni Gardemeister upholds Abarth honour having climbed up to fifth place on the overnight leaderboard while the factory challenge for honours continues to flounder

It all went horribly wrong for Abarth on the opening day in Monte Carlo; after three stages in the snow and ice the Italian factory team's challenge lay in tatters, leaving its surviving drivers with a mammoth task if they are to salvage victory

The Abarth factory team's 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season gets underway this morning with the unique challenge posed by the Monte Carlo Rally: the oldest, best-known and most prestigious event in the history of the sport

After 14 tough stages of dust, gravel, sand and mud, adding up to 4500 km of timed specials, Dutch privateer driver Gerard de Rooy crossed the Dakar Rally finish in Buenos Aires on Sunday with his feet firmly on the podium

Photo Gallery: Dakar Rally 2009 - Team de Rooy Ginaf-Iveco (II)

As the Dakar Rally enters the final stages and heads towards the finish in Buenos Aires on Sunday the Iveco powered Ginaf truck of Gerard de Rooy is in a solid third place in the truck category after earlier problems cost him the race lead

Photo Gallery: Dakar Rally 2009 - Team de Rooy Ginaf-Iveco (I)

After 12 days and 7000 km through the North African desert and 22 years after his last victory in Dakar, Dutch rally-raid veteran Jan de Rooy has won the truck class of the inaugural Africa Rally at the wheel of an 820 bhp Iveco Trakker

Photo Gallery: Africa Rally 2009 - Team de Rooy #301 Iveco Trakker

Ferrari Formula 1 ace Kimi Räikkönen has turned his attention to wheelmanship of a different kind, entering the Arctic Lapland Rally in a Grande Punto Abarth S2000; the 29-year-old Finn will sit alongside experienced co-driver Kaj Lindstöm

With three factory run cars plus the support of a quartet of private entries, Abarth is seeking to stamp its name into the record books for the first time and join its Fiat Group stable mates on the roll call of the world's most important rally

Toni Gardemeister will take the start of the Rallye Monte Carlo later this month at the wheel of an Grande Punto Abarth S2000 run by Astra Racing; the flying Finn is expected to be quick and is regarded as being a Monte 'specialist'

After two days and 608 km of timed special stages in Argentina, Gerard de Rooy is leading the truck category of the Dakar Rally in the Iveco-powered Team de Rooy Ginaf truck, closely followed by the two Kamaz factory team entries

Three factory-run Grande Punto Abarths will lead out the seven Abarth that appear on the entry list for the 77th Rallye Monte Carlo, which runs this year for the first time as the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge

Gerard De Rooy will begin his bid to win the Dakar Rally in his Iveco engined truck tomorrow; only 28 years old he has quite a track record, finishing three of his five participations to the Dakar: 6th in 2002, 3rd in 2004 and 5th in 2005

Abarth has chosen to use the integrated NX Advanced Simulation solutions from Siemens to analyse suspension systems for both its high performance road car range and the Grande Punto Abarth Super2000 rally machine

This weekend the Dakar Rally 2009 sets off to discover a new continent, South America, and in contention for victory when the 530 competitors roll out of Buenos Aires will be the Iveco Cursor 13 powered trucks of Team De Rooy