Abarth Rally Cup & ERC, ready to restart their engines
Luca Napolitano, Head of EMEA Fiat & Abarth Brands, and Jean-Baptiste Ley, ERC Co-ordinator, take stock of the Abarth Rally Cup, part of the ERC – the European Rally Championship – while we wait for the next starting line in the Championship.
While we wait for the engines to be restarted, Luca Napolitano, Head of EMEA Fiat & Abarth Brands, and Jean-Baptiste Ley, ERC Co-ordinator, take stock of the sporting successes of the Abarth 124 rally and the Abarth Rally Cup, part of the FIA European Rally Championship.
“In their 70-year history, Abarth cars have run on every European course. They have come in victorious on each one. Today, with nearly 100 class wins, the 124 Rally is still the car to beat in the R-GT class,” said Luca Napolitano, Head of EMEA Fiat & Abarth Brands. He went on: “At the 2019 European Rally Championship, the 124 rally won 57 of the 88 special stages it took part in.” We can’t wait to get back on track and win again.”
The 124 rally acted as a sporting ambassador in 16 countries, at around 150 international races and in 25 national and international championships. It racked up about 100 victories in the RG-T class and established itself in the 2018 and 2019 FIA R-GT Cup, becoming the car to beat.
Overall, in three years of racing, the Abarth 124 rally ran more than 300,000 km in the competitions it took part in.
During the 2019 European Rally Championship (ERC) – which includes the Abarth Rally Cup – over 4,000 km were covered, 1,200 km of which were time trials, with a total of 88 special stages. 57 of these saw the Abarth 124 rally come in victorious in its class.
Jean-Baptiste Ley noted: “Last year, the Abarth Rally Cup played a major role in the European Rally Championship. We can’t wait to see the Abarth 124 rally at the FIA ERC championship as soon as the season resumes.”
The Abarth Rally Cup proved spectacular and compelling, a mixture of speed and adventure on a wide variety of terrains. From the flat, super-fast tarmac of the Barum Rally Zlín in the Czech Republic and the Rally Hungary, to the bumpy dirt tracks of the Rally Liepāja in Latvia and the Rally of Poland, via the meandering mountain roads of the Rally Islas Canarias and the Rally di Roma Capitale, the competitors ran in many different weathers, from the pouring rain to blazing sunshine, in sweltering heat. In the end, the Italian Andrea Nucita came out on top, ahead of Poland’s Dariusz Poloński and the Spaniard Alberto Monarri.
In 2019, Abarth also took part in the FIA R-GT 2019, a championship dominated by the Abarth 124 rally, which took the top three final standings, with the Italian Enrico Brazzoli winning at Monte Carlo, the Tour de Corse and Sanremo. This was another long, challenging championship, made up of 8 prestigious events.
