Abarth's factory stars Giandomenico Basso and Luca Rossetti will begin their bid for honours on the 39th Barum Czech Rally Zlín later this evening when the fast and unique asphalt rally gets underway with the opening Superspecial stage

The Abarth factory challenge on the Barum Rally Zlín which gets underway in 48 hours time will be well supported by four privately entered Abarth Grande Puntos including the JM Engineering-run machine of rapid local youngster Jaroslav Orsák

ItaliaspeedTV: Fiat Punto S1600 & Fiat Grande Punto Abarth Rally S2000 (historical rally video)

It is being reported that Abarth is on the brink of signing up for the FIA World Rally Championship next year a dramatic decision that would return the Fiat Group to rallying's pinnacle sixteen years after it last won the manufacturers' title

ItaliaspeedTV: Fiat Abarth (historical rally video)

Winner last time out in Madeira earlier this month, Giandomenico Basso, will be again backed up by backed up by the rapid Luca Rossetti who shone on the island prior to his accident when the IRC heads for the Czech Republic next week

Rapid Czech driver Jaromir Tarabus is to get full factory Abarth support on the next round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the 39th Barum Czech Rally Zlín, as the Scorpion seeks to continue its newly-found winning momentum

Two of rallying's most iconic winning machines, the Lancia 037 Rally and Delta S4, are being honoured in a dazzling exhibition of the Group B era that Audi is presenting at its Ingolstadt headquarters' museum as part of its centenary celebrations

Anton Alén capably upheld Abarth honour in Finland following the departure of Kimi Raikkonen and the Finnish youngster completed the final day's four stages to finish a strong second in Group N as well as claiming thirteenth place overall

Living up to his 'Iceman' nickname, Kimi Raikkonen shrugged off his last stage roll in Finland yesterday as 'part of the sport' and said his World Rally Championship debut on the Rally Finland in a Grande Punto Abarth had been good fun

ItaliaspeedPhotoStream: 59th Neste Oil Finland Rally - Kimi Raikkonen (Grande Punto Abarth S2000)

Giandomenico Basso has claimed his third win in four years on the Rali Vinho Madeira after an amazing rally long duel with Bruno Magalhães which resulted in a winning margin for the Abarth driver after 21 hotly-fought stages of just 3.5 seconds

Former double FIA World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm is sensationally in talks to drive a Super 2000 Grande Punto Abarth on the final round of this year's Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the inaugural Rally of Scotland

Kimi Raikkonen’s heroic efforts at the wheel of a Grande Punto Abarth on the Rally Finland ended this afternoon as he dramatically rolled out on the final stage,in a Group N podium position despite having suffered problems with the car all day

Giandomenico Basso firmly put his stamp on the opening day in Madeira, as he seeks his third win in four years on the island, notching up eight fastest stage times to finish the marathon leg with 16 seconds in hand over his closest challenger

Kimi Raikkonen completed the opening day in Finland with a hugely impressive performance in his Grande Punto Abarth turning in a series of very fast stage times that have moved the Ferrari F1 driver up the leaderboard to fourth place in GpN

Kimi Raikkonen has made highly impressive start to his debut on the world rally stage on the Rally Finland, and after this morning’s opening five stages he is lying sixth in Group N, posting times respectably close to the experienced Anton Alén

The factory Abarth drivers Giandomenico Basso and Luca Rossetti have begun their bid to win the 50th Rali Vinho Madeira which kicked off yesterday with a Superspecial stage of the streets of Funchal and will get underway proper this morning

"It doesn't matter what sport you do you always want to have a competition out of it," says Kimi Raikkonen as he counts down the hours to his WRC debut, "so it's hard to just drive about and not care about the times, it’s always going to happen

Kimi Raikkonen, who makes his FIA World Rally Championship debut this evening on the Rally Finland, said today that he will be honoured to have Michael Schumacher as a team mate and that he could envision a future as a rally driver

Anton Alén will be hoping for an improvement in his fortunes this season when the young Finn goes into action on his home round of the World Rally Championship, the Neste Oil Rally Finland, next Thursday at the wheel of a Grande Punto Abarth

The Goodwood Festival of Speed's popular forest rally stage would not be complete without the presence of rallying's most iconic brand - Lancia - and this year  was to be no different with a swage of glorious Italian winners turning back the clock

ItaliaspeedPhotoStream: Goodwood Festival of Speed, Rally Paddock - Lancia

Giandomenico Basso is upbeat after his podium in Russia and win in Bulgaria as he heads for Madeira where he has two wins in the last three years and where the Abarth factory challenge will be bolstered by the inclusion of Luca Rossetti