Abarth’s 124 Rally has just kicked off its competitive year under the umbrella of the Abarth 124 Rally Selenia International Challenge in France with a very promising performance on the 58th Rallye Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais with a car entered by the Milano Racing team and driven by a young crew, Nicolas Ciamin and Thibault De La Haye.
The event kicked off the 2018 French Rally championship and Ciamin/De La Haye won the R-GT class on 11 of the 16 special stages held over asphalt roads that were made even more treacherous by the presence of mud.
In these tough conditions the 124 Rally was able to show off its capabilities as the driver can rely on customisable electronic controls during the special stages that can be set according to the features of the road surface.
Ciamin and De La Haye took the lead from the start of the rally by taking full advantage of the treacherous conditions but they were soon held back by a technical problem that cost the pair a little under three minutes. The issue was resolved and the crew put in a superb comeback drive, posting a string of fastest stage times.
French rally spectators will have the opportunity to see car and team back in action during the second round of the French Rally Championship, the Rallye Lyon-Charbonnière, which takes place on 19 April.
Before that though the other championships in which Abarth 124 Rally is competing under the guise of the Abarth 124 Rally Selenia International Challenge will get underway, starting this coming weekend with the Rally del Ciocco in Italy, the Valasska Rally in the Czech Republic, where the Agrotec Team will be competing, and the Rally Brasov, with Bernini Rally, in Romania.
Then on 13 April, the 124 Rally of the SMC Junior Motorsport team will debut in Spain at the Rallye Sierra Morena where Alberto Monarri and Rodrigo Sanjuán will be called on to defend the R-GT title they won last year with the team.
