The Abarth 124 Rally, in the hands of Álvaro Muñiz Mora and Antonio Solórzano, is all set to wrap up its superb debut season in the Campeonato de España de Rally de Asfalto (CERA), the Spanish Tarmac Rally Championship, this weekend on the Rallye Comunidad de Madrid – RACE, with the two-wheel-drive championship title.
The car, run by Madrid-based SMC Junior Motorsport, debuted in CERA back on May on the occasion of the 41st Rally Islas Canarias. Although on this occasion it was the only entry in the R-GT class. However, the 124 Spider’s promise was unlocked although the car retired on the tenth of twelve stages.
Just days after the Rally Islas Canarias, which is the only Spanish event to count towards the European Rally Championship this year, the SMC Junior Motorsport upped sticks from Gran Canaria to Tenerife to compete in the next round, the Rally Villa de Adeje. This was the second of two consecutive events on the CERA calendar to be held in the Canaries.
The team, which is headed by Gonzalo Martín de Andrés, spent a week working hard to prepare its new Italian rally car for success in Tenerife, with additional on-the-ground support from Abarth racing managers, Mauricio Gonzalvo and Andrea Barbieri.
The two Italians travelled to Adeje to see the 124 Rally in action, and expressed pleasant surprise at SMC Junior Motorsport's pace in the Islas Canarias, which after all is a major international competition. The car, sponsored by the agricultural chemicals company Afrasa, has also undergone a series of mechanical changes at the behest of Abarth's Turin headquarters.
The Italian engineers expressed particular appreciation for the development work being carried out in Spain on the Abarth-homologated R-GT, and said they were returning home with an even more favourable impression.
Driver Muñiz, navigator Solórzano and the SMC Junior Motorsport team turned in faultless performances during the two legs of the Rally Villa de Adeje. The 124 Rally was unbeatable from start to finish, showing its potential by winning all twelve stages in the R-GT class and comparing favourably with cars in higher categories after finishing tenth overall. That result marked the first victory for the 124 Rally in Spain on the car’s third rally.
"It was third time lucky," said Muñiz afterwards. "We won 2WD, and we were very fast overall, particularly during the first stage, so overall the race was very positive. We now have two rallies in Galicia, Ourense and Ferrol, where some sections of the track won't be quite so favourable to our GT. But I'm confident in the team. They've worked very hard in these two events in the Canaries, and I'm sure we can go on to create a winning car in nearly all conditions. This is the challenge we face."
Two more wins in the 2WD class followed on the next two rallies, the Rally de Ourense in June and the Rally del Ferro in July, which also equated to sixth and eighth places overall, respectively.
September’s Rallye Principessa delle Asturie saw the car retire during the first leg but it was back to the 2WD winners circle on the next round, Rally Villa de Llanes, after winning seven of the ten stages, crew and car dealing superbly with thunderstorms. The penultimate round, Rally La Nucia, saw another R-GT win for the 124 Spider, which added up to eleventh place overall, with just one more round of CERA now remaining, the Rallye Comunidad de Madrid – RACE, which takes place this coming weekend, 24-25 November.
