30.10.2003 THE FIAT PUNTO ABARTH CELEBRATES A SUCCESSFUL RALLY SEASON
The
Punto Abarth has won the Italian Drivers and Manufacturers Rally Championship, a
return to success for Fiat after 23 years when, in 1980, Adartico Vudafieri won
with a Fiat 131 Abarth.
This year Paolo Andreucci and Giandomenico Basso finished in first and second places respectively in the Drivers Championship in a season dominated by the Fiat Punto Abarth, with six wins out of 9 races. Andreucci, teamed up with Anna Andreussi, was the winner in the Targa Florio, San Martino di Castrozza and Adriatic Rallies, while Basso took first place in the Ciocco, 1000 Miglia and Eastern Alps Rallies. In the Championship standings they finished ahead of official Peugeot driver, Renato Travaglia, Subaru drivers, Piero Longhi and Alessandro Fiorio, and Mitsubishi's lead driver, Gianluigi Galli.
The 2003 Italian Championship was open to cars in the Super 1600 (the Fiat Punto Abarth's category) and Super N categories (4-wheel drive with a 2000 cc turbo engine). The Super 1600 version of the Fiat Punto Abarth is equipped with a 1600 cc engine (a reduced-capacity 1800 cc unit from the production line HGT version) with a power output of 215 bhp at 8250 rpm and a 6-speed sequential gearbox. A car also fitted with wider front and rear wings and rear spoiler. Both Andreucci and Basso used Pirelli tyres.
The Fiat Punto Abarth was
unbeatable in rallies over tarmac, while in off-road conditions Andreucci
chalked up a great success in the Adriatic Rally thanks to the car's outstanding
reliability that enabled it to get the better of its 4-wheel drive rivals.
A winner abroad too
The Fiat Punto Abarth showed itself to be really competitive outside the Italian
Championship too. In fact in the World Junior Championship (for drivers aged
under 28) it achieved an outstanding success in the Sanremo Rally with Mirco
Baldacci and a second place in the Monte Carlo Rally with Marco Ligato.
In Greece, Iaveris took the
national title in a Punto Abarth with one rally still to go, while Cols in
Belgium has already won the Super 1600 title (Drivers and Manufacturers) thanks
to 5 victories. And Fiat Punto Abarth drivers are still in the running for the
title in Portugal, the UK and Poland. Instead Isik, this time at the wheel of a
Fiat Palio Super 1600 version, has won the Championship title in Turkey.
In its history Fiat has won 3 World Manufacturers titles, 1 Drivers title, 3
European titles and 5 Italian titles.
Fiat's first success in the Italian Championship dates back to 1970: Alcide
Paganelli and Ninni Russo won with the Fiat 124 Spider. Four years later
Maurizio Verini drove to success in the same Championship with the Fiat 124
Abarth, the same car that took the title the following year with Roberto
Cambiaghi at the wheel. Instead it was a Fiat 131 Abarth that took Adartico
Vudafieri to victory in the Italian Championship in 1980.
In Europe it was Raffaele Pinto who "broke the ice" when he won with the Fiat 124 Spider and Abarth in 1972. Then the 124 Abarth won the title yet again in 1974, this time with Verini, while Vudafieri also won in Europe in 1981.
But the most prestigious titles
are the World Manufacturers Championship triumphs in 1977, 1978 and 1981 with
the 131 Abarth, and Röhrl's Drivers title in 1980.
The 2003 Fiat Abarth 2003 Trophy
Fiat has always taken an interest in much more than top-level motor sport. It
also encourages young drivers, those who want to learn, to emerge, to become the
champions of tomorrow. This is the spirit behind the Fiat Punto Abarth and Fiat
Stilo Abarth Trophies: participants in the former are Punto Abarth Rally drivers
who, based on their results, can count both individual race and overall Trophy
prize money. Under-27 drivers who win in this category can earn the right to
participate in the World Junior Championship the following year.
Instead the second is a single-brand Trophy reserved for the Stilo drivers who compete in regular Italian Championship events - an excellent opportunity for drivers to make their mark. Cars are prepared in true competition trim, ideal for drivers tackling rallies for the first time and, race after race, must discover the secrets and best driving techniques for these events.
This is the first step on the way to becoming a professional. This is what happened in the past to Alan Scorcioni and Alessandro Bettega, for example. They, too, were at the wheel of a Stilo in the past season and thanks to their results (first and second in the Under-25 standings), today they are there, up among the "top names" in Italian motor racing. Scorcioni, who won in the Under-27 category with the Fiat Punto Abarth in the Italian Championship, will be in the line-up for the World Junior Rally Championship in 2004. And like him, young driver Luca Tabaton, who was the overall and Under-25 winner in the 2003 Fiat Stilo Abarth Trophy, will also participate in next season's World Junior Championship with the Punto.
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