Michael Satterfield
TGR Staff
The Fiat Abarth 124 rally will start the 2019 season at the Monte Carlo Rally, driven by Enrico Brazzoli and Manuel Fenoli (ITA) for Bernini Rally Team, in the first event of the 2019 World Rally Championship (WRC).
The spider with the scorpion badge is the defending champion having won the FIA R-GT Cup last year, driven by Frenchmen Raphael Astier and Frédéric Vauclare.
The Monte Carlo Rally is an important event in the racing history of the Abarth 124 rally. In 2017, at its world debut, the car demonstrated how competitive it was securing a resounding fourth amongst the official WRC four-wheel-drive cars in the toughest special stage race in bad weather, snow, and ice.
Once again this year, snow and ice is expected for part of the race and is sure to make the opening event of the WRC even tougher. In total, competitors will face 1,366 km, 323 of them at a timed speed split over 16 special stages, including two crossings of the legendary Col de Turini.
Enrico Brazzoli was enthusiastic about the new car after testing. “For an Italian driver to compete in the Monte Carlo Rally in an Abarth is a dream come true. The car is very high performing and powerful and I am optimistic for the championship even if Monte Carlo is never an easy race and is famous for its traps and pitfalls”.
Brazzoli is a world champion in his own right, having won the two-wheel drive WRC3 Cup in 2018.
Abarth has a long history of success in the sport with numerous memorable wins including Walter Rohrl’s 1980 victory in the 131 Rally, which paved the way to winning Constructors’ and Drivers’ championship titles that year.
Abarth is also organizing the Abarth Rally Cup 2019, a single-brand championship in six prestigious races of the European Rally Championship (FIA-ERC). The Abarth Rally Cup will start on 2 May with the Rally Islas Canarias and will finish with the Rally of Hungary on 3 November.
