The 500 Abarth Assetto Corse racer took centre stage on the Scorpion brand's stand at the 79th Geneva Motor Show earlier this month.

For its debut race tomorrow (Sunday 29 March) at the Monza track in Italy, the inaugural Trofeo Abarth 500 has attracted 27 drivers. This one-make championship stars the specially prepared Abarth 500 Assetto Corse, fitted with a 190 bhp engine which allows a top speed of over 220 km/h.

Today (Saturday 28 March), the track programme will feature a free practice session (from 9:00am to 09:25am) and a qualifying session from 1:45pm to 2:10pm. There will be two races on Sunday: the first one will get underway at 1:45pm while the second will start at 2:10pm.

Among the participants in the brand new championship is young official Abarth rally driver Umberto Scandola, who has shown a lot of commitment in fine-tuning the Abarth 500 Assetto Corse during a number of test sessions last winter. “Driving the Abarth 500 Assetto Corse is a lot of fun”, said Scandola. “It's quick and it suits all kinds of driving styles”. On this occasion, the young Abarth driver - who also takes part in the Italian Rally Championship this year - will make his circuit racing debut.

A lot of drivers entered in the Trofeo Abarth 500 come from other one-make racing championships. In addition, there are some noteworthy celebrity beginners such as showmen Jimmy Ghione and Luca Cassol from the TV show “Striscia la Notizia”. The latter is better known as “Capitan Ventosa” (“Captain Suction Pad”).

This success in attracting such a strong field of competitors to the first race is also owed to the professionalism shown by the highly specialised “Abarth Racing” network which is already renowned for its vast experience in the car racing world. They provide their racing customers with a car which is assembled and prepared directly in the Abarth workshops and with on-the-spot assistance.

There are nine “Abarth Racing” tuning workshops: Uboldi Corse with Autoalberta by Uboldi Corse (Lomazzo, Como), Carrozzeria Campana (Modena), Forza Service (Turin), Romeo Ferraris (Opera, Milan), Rosso Corsa (San Zeno Naviglio, Brescia), Trico Motor Sport (Alessandria), Officina Foresi (Civitanova Marche, Macerata), Procar (Casalguidi, Pistoia) and Zatti Sport (Parma).

When skimming through the strong entry list, it appears that drivers come from very heterogeneous circles, reviving the “democratisation of racing” concept that was so dear to Karl Abarth. The idea is to allow car racing drivers to participate while keeping the costs low. In the Sixties and the Seventies, a lot of gentlemen-drivers were pitting themselves against young up-and-coming drivers all over Europe at the wheel of the 2-cylinder 500 Abarths. Today, this story is all set to repeat itself with the Trofeo Abarth 500, featuring a modern high-performance car capable that will be highly capable of granting a great show.