Today more than fifty Fiat Uno and Punto racers will hit the track at Estoril in Portugal for the third round of this season's Challenge Desafio Único, one of the most innovative, exciting and well-supported low-cost race series in Europe. Close racing is guaranteed from the booming championship that is entering just its fourth season, and the Challenge Desafio Único has already established itself as a firm fixture on the Portuguese racing calendar.

The Challenge Desafio Único in fact started from an idea of a former FEUP (Porto Engineering University) student, he took his bold proposal to José Ferreira Duarte, a professor at the university, telling him that it would be really interesting to start off an affordable speed circuit series that students could participate in and be involved with.

The idea snowballed and the series began with Fiat Uno 45 (FEUP 1) back in 2007. The prototype was developed at the university and some students were closely involved in this process. Success was achieved almost instantaneously, when during the first year of the challenge, forty cars and over eighty drivers raced in the series, and 2008 was the confirmation of its enduring success with 50 cars and over 100 drivers taking part. With the increasing number of drivers and cars, José Ferreira Duarte and his students felt the need to create a different class, with a more challenging car, that would provide an evolution chance for the drivers and in 2009 a new class with Fiat Punto 85 (FEUP 2) was created.

Last October this impressive credentials of the championship and the place it has earned on the Portuguese motor sport calendar were recognised when José Ferreira Duarte received the Man of The Year Award presented by the Portuguese Sports Confederation for his services to motor sports, this award is given by a direct nomination by FPAK (Portuguese Auto and Karting Federation).

To make this new competition as affordable as possible, the regulations are very strict, so that limited modifications are made to the cars and all of them carefully explained through a detailed list of manufacturers and equipment, a control tyre, and similar suspension and exhausts.

The Uno is powered by the 999cc 8v SPI Fire engine, while the Punto mounts the 1242cc 16v MPI unit, while the gearboxes used are the original ones and no modifications are allowed to the engines or gearboxes. The minimum weight of the cars (drivers, all equipment and fluids included) is 765kg for the Uno and 900kg for the Punto.

There are two drivers in each team, each one driving a separate race of 25 minutes, then a last race of 50 minutes is held with both drivers participating in it. The participating drivers are divided into two groups split into each class, the ones that are competing just for fun, and the ones that are fighting more seriously for victory. Nowadays the series has some very experienced drivers, and while most are amateurs some of the pilots are professionals that see the Desafio Único as a cost-effective opportunity to improve their track knowledge and to participate in more races.

The series calendar this year comprises of six rounds, divided between four circuit races and two hill climbs, while an extra four hour race is held at the end of the season where Unos and Puntos will fight it out together on the track. Today (13 June), twenty-six Fiat Uno and thirty Fiat Puntos and over one hundred drivers will be participating in the Challenge’s third round of the fourth season, at the Autódromo do Estoril, the former grand prix track which is now a host to the MotoGP World Championship. The remaining three championship-counting rounds on the calendar will consist of round four (circuit) at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão (25/7/2010), round five (hill climb) at Rampa da Penha, Guimarães (25-26/9/2010), and finally the six and final round (circuit) at the Circuito Vasco Sameiro, Braga (31/10/20110), before the blue riband 4 Hour Race (circuit) takes place at the Circuito Vasco Sameiro, Braga during December.

by Pedro Matias

Provisional Championship Position (after 2 of 6 rounds):

FEUP 1 – FIAT UNO 45

Pos.	Car Nº	DRIVERS	TOTAL POINTS
1st	36	ADELINO CAMELO	95
=	36	NUNO MIGUEIS	95
3rd	6	JOSÉ PEIXOTO	82
=	6	MIGUEL PEREIRA	82
5th	1	FILIPE MATIAS	80
=	1	RICARDO ROCHA	80
7th	4	JOSÉ FERREIRA	80
=	4	RENATO CALDEIRA	80
9th	18	GONÇALO FERREIRA	77
=	18	TIAGO FERNANDES	77

FEUP 2 – FIAT PUNTO 85
 

Pos.	Car Nº	DRIVERS	TOTAL POINTS
1th	33	ANTÓNIO FERREIRA	88
=	33	TIAGO MARTINHO	88
3rd	4	JORGE AREAL	86
=	4	RUI ALMEIDA	86
5th	19	ANTÓNIO PEREIRA	81
=	19	FILIPE CARVALHO	81
7th	24	MARCOS TEIXEIRA	81
=	24	RUI XAVIER	81
9th	25	NUNO POMBO	80
=	25	PEDRO MATIAS	80