23.01.2004 FIVE FIAT PUNTOS LINE UP IN MONTE CARLO TO TAKE PART IN THE JUNIOR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Five Fiat Punto Abarths will take part
in the 2004 Junior World Rally Championship, the special category reserved to
young drivers under 28 years old driving Super 1600 cars, with two wheel drive
and 1600cc engines, that starts today with the Rallye Montecarlo.
The drivers who have choosen Fiat Punto Abarths are the Italians Alan Scorcioni,
Luca Tabaton (winners of Trofeo Fiat Punto Abarth and Trofeo Fiat Stilo Abarth
2003), Alessandro Broccoli, the Frenchman Mathieu Biasion and the Spanish driver
Xavier Pons, who is supported by the Catalan Federation.
Scorcioni, Tabaton and Biasion will run with the colours of Team Grifone
Avvenire, directed by Fabrizio Tabaton, ex European and Italian rally champion,
while Broccoli and Pons will drive with Team Hi-Tec, the same team that last
year won the Sanremo Rally.
The Junior World Rally Championship, this is the fourth edition, has 21 drivers
in the entry list and the calendar provides seven races, after Montecarlo, there
will be the Acropolis Rally (Greece), the Rally of Turkey, the Neste Rally
Finland, the Wales Rally GB (Great Britain), the Rallye d'Italia (Italy) and the
Rally Catalunia (Spain).
For Scorcioni and Tabaton this Championship is the prize for success in the
Italian Trofeo Fiat. Scorcioni won the Trofeo Fiat Stilo Abarth 2002 and then,
in 2003, won the Under 27 category of Trofeo Fiat Punto Abarth. Tabaton won in
2003 series overall and the Under 25 category of Trofeo Fiat Stilo Abarth.
Biasion also comes from the Italian
Trofeo Fiat Stilo Abarth. Broccoli finisched the Junior Championship 2003 in 8th
position with Opel Corsa and his best result was the third place in Monte Carlo.
Pons has a strong background in motocross and enduro (Enduro World Champion in
2000) and in 2002 he drove in the gravel-surfaced Spanish Rally Championship.
All the cars have technical support from Fiat's competition department
N-Technology, who will support the junior drivers with a truck, engineers and
mechanics. The Monte Carlo Rally provides three legs that start on Thursday 22nd
of January and finish on Sunday 25th: fifteen special stages for 400km.
2004 CALENDAR
|
DRIVERS
| ALAN SCORCIONI
(Team Grifone Avvenire): Born in Pavullo, Modena (Italy), 7 May 1981; 2002 -
1st in the Trofeo Fiat Stilo Abarth; 2003 - 1st Under 25 in the Italian
Rally Championship LUCA TABATON (Team Grifone Avvenire): Born in Genova (Italy), 5 November 1981; 2000 - debut in rally; 2002 - Trofeo Fiat Stilo Abarth; 2003 - 1st overall and under 25 in the Trofeo Fiat Stilo Abarth MATHIEU BIASION (Team Grifone Avvenire): Born in Valence (Francia), 18 April 1979; 2003 - 3rd in the Trofeo Fiat Stilo Abarth ALESSANDRO BROCCOLI (Team Hi-Tec): Born in San Marino (San Marino Repubblic), 6 April 1981; 2002 - 5th in Italian Gravel Rally Championship; 2003 - 8th in Junior World Rally Championship, 13rd in Italian Gravel Challenge XAVIER PONS (Team Hi-Tec): Born in Vic, Barcelona (Spain), 21 Genuary 1980; 2000 - World Team Enduro Champion; 2002 - 1st Rally de Súria (Campeonato di Cataluña di Tierra); 2002 - 1st Rally Viladrau Open Cataluñya; 2002 - 6th Scratch Rally de España de Tierra en Cangas de Narcea; 2002 - 5th Scratch Rally de España de Tierra en Valladolid; 2002 - 1st Rally Criterium Berguedà (Group N) |
FIAT PUNTO SUPER 1600 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
| ENGINE | Front transversal, 4 in line cylinders |
| CAPACITY | 1597 cc |
| BORE X STROKE | 82.5x74.7 mm |
| COMPRESSION RATIO | 13:1 |
| POWER | 215 cv at 8250 rpm |
| TORQUE | 190 Nm at 6250 rpm |
| FUEL FEED | Marelli MF4 integrated electronic system |
| INTAKE | Single throttle diam. 60 mm |
| CLUTCH | Single plate cerametallic diam. 200 mm |
| GEARBOX | 6 speed + rev, sequential, front engagement with cut-off |
| DIFFERENTIAL | Mechanic limited slip differential |
| BRAKES | Front: Brembo 4 pot calipers, 355 mm (tarmac), 300 mm (gravel) discs Rear: Brembo 2 pot calipers, 240 mm discs |
| STEERING | Power assisted, with rack box and electric pump |
| SUSPENSIONS | Front: McPherson strut, avional uprights Rear: trailing arms, coaxial springs |
| WHEELS | Speedline Al alloy wheels 7x17 (tarmac), 6x15 (gravel) |
| SPECIAL PARTS | Digital integrated dashboard, lightened chassis, front and rear spoilers, heated windscreen, N.Technology integrated roll bar |
| WEIGHT | 1000 kg |