The success of the
enrolment stage of Abarth's "Make it your race 2012"
event is going beyond expectations: over 20,000 entries
have been received since March 1st from the six
countries involved in the project: Italy, Germany, UK,
France, Switzerland and Belgium and Luxemburg. For this
reason, Abarth has decided to postpone the deadline for
enrolling for the first international talent show for
aspiring drivers aged from 18 to 40 until April 23rd.
This will allow to submit more entries also during the
voting stage which will start on April 6th in each
country to select the first 50 finalists.
The enrolment procedure
is the same: each candidate can post a text, a photo or
a video on the the dedicated website. The entry
will be evaluated firstly by a technical panel and then
by the committees themselves along with the preferences
expressed by "Make it your race 2012" website users and
on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The 105 aspiring
drivers who will be short-listed will be invited to take
part in a special "Abarth Driving Academy" driving
experience at the de Adamich International Safe Driving
School. The 24 best participants, divided into six
national teams, will then go to a driving camp where
they will live the team experience and put their skills
to the test. What will make all this even more fun is
the presence of the three BUGS, directly from the "Le
Iene" cult TV show, playing the roles of masters of
ceremony and trouble-makers.
The six teams will be
formed by four aspiring drivers each and will be coached
by a celebrity of the team's country, linked to the
world of racing and the media (a driver or former
driver, engineer, journalist or sports commentator).
Margot Laffite, daughter of Formula 1 driver Jacques and
captain of the French team, will be joined by Arturo
Merzario, former F1 driver, who will be coaching the
Italian team, Tiffany Chitteden, journalist and British
kart champion for the UK team, and Christian Menzel,
journalist and driver, who will be the captain of the
German team. The coaches of the Swiss and Belgian team
will be revealed soon.
All steps of Abarth's
original talent show will be followed by a TV production
crew. Seven shows will be made and aired between the end
of summer and the beginning of autumn on Italian
national TV channels and on the web. The production will
include special contents and backstage stories.
"Make it your race 2012"
will end on June 24th 2012 on the Franciacorta racing
track where the six finalists, one representing each
country, will have the opportunity of driving a Abarth
500 "Assetto Corse" in the Trofeo Abarth, by the side of
professional drivers. 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.
