Entries for Abarth's
Make it your race 2012 continue to roll in, so that
the first international talent show for aspiring drivers
aged from 18 to 40 is already set to a success. They
opened on 1 March online and to date, over 17,500
entries have come from the six countries involved in the
project - Italy, Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland
and Belgium & Luxembourg - which have been collected
following a video teaser which was watched about 500,000
times on YouTube and on the dedicated website that till
now has totaled more than 124,000 visits.
Of note are the
percentages of entrants: Italy (60%) followed by France
(12%), Germany and Belgium (both with 10%). In
particular in Italy, the North heads up the entries with
42%, whilst Rome is the number one city with 6%, ahead
of Turin (5%). Additionally, more than 400 women have
entered, and the country boasting the largest female
presence is Switzerland (8% of the national total).
These figures herald a
successful talent show that will be followed in its
entirety by a TV production crew that will be filming
the episodes from May to June in various locations. They
include the Varano and Franciacorta circuits, in
addition to the brand's headquarters in Turin. A total
of six 30-minute television episodes will be made, plus
one 60-minute episode (summarising the entire
initiative). They will broadcast between the end of the
summer and autumn, depending on the markets, on the
national TV channels currently being decided. In
addition, special formats and the backstage story are
planned for the web.
All amateur (and
therefore unlicensed) drivers aged between 18 and 40 and
resident in Italy, Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland
or Belgium & Luxembourg are eligible to take part in the
talent show. A technical jury make the selections in
each country. It will choose 50 aspiring drivers on the
basis of information that every candidate can post on
the website (one text, one photo or one video). The same
juries will then make a second selection by following
the leads and preferences coming in from the users of
the website and YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels.
This phase will conclude in early April, and from it 105
aspiring drivers will emerge. They will take part in a
special Abarth Driving Academy driving experience at de
Adamich's International Safe Driving Centre.
The 24 best drivers,
representing the six countries, will then go to a Camp
where they will live out a team experience for a week
and put their abilities to the test: concentration,
reflexes, courage, but also safety and sense of
responsibility. Then there will also be tests on their
ability to relate with the world and more "ironic" tests
aimed at throwing the competitors a curve to gauge their
reactions. What will make all this even more fun is the
presence of the three BUGS, directly from the "Le Iene"
cult TV programme, playing the roles of masters of
ceremony and trouble-makers.
The final test will be a
racing driving course that will prepare the top drivers
to face the adrenaline rush of the track, ensuring
utmost safety through professional, technical and
practical training.
Each team will challenge
the others, but within each one every driver will be
competing with his companions. The six teams will also
each have a coach who will be a famous personality in
his country, linked to the world of racing and the media
(a driver or former driver, engineer, journalist or
sports commentator). Even though the names of the
captains will be announced only after the selections
have been made, today we can disclose that the French
team will be led by Margot Laffite, daughter of Formula
1 driver Jacques Laffite and motorsport journalist for a
number of French TV channels.
The last phase will
single out the six finalists, one per country, who will
have the chance to take to the track aboard an Abarth
500 "Assetto Corse" together with the professional
drivers in the Trofeo Abarth test on the Franciacorta
circuit 24 June 2012. The driver who achieves the best
overall place will have a car all to themselves in
addition to the possibility of racing in an Abarth 500
Assetto Corse again.
At this point it is clear
that "Make it your race" is a brand new talent show, the
first ever dedicated to aspiring drivers. It will not
deal with just engines and track racing, but will also
talk about competing with others and with oneself, the
desire to take risks and take up challenges, and the
constant quest to improve oneself. "Make it your race"
is once again a chance for Abarth to promote the
"democratization of racing", a concept dear to the heart
of its founder Karl Abarth, by offering young people the
possibility to make a lifelong dream come true: taking
part in a real competition, with a real racing car.