Fiat Chrysler Automobiles : Abarth Rally Cup 2019, the Abarth 124 rally is back in Spain for the first round va...

• Four Abarth 124 rally cars will be at the Rally Islas Canarias, valid for the FIA European Rally Championship, starting in Las Palmas on Thursday, May 2
• The single-brand championship for the cars with the Scorpion badge will be contended over six races valid for the European title

The Abarth Rally Cup 2019 championship reserved to the Abarth 124 rally in the R-GT category will kick off on May 2 in the Rally Islas Canarias, the first of six events in the FIA European Rally Championship.
Four international crews will be competing in four Abarth 124 rally cars driven by Pole Dariusz Polonski in team with Lukasz Sitek, Italian Andrea Nucita with Giuseppe Princiotto, Spaniard Alberto Monarri with Alberto Chamorro and Carlos David Garcia Perez with Jordi Samuel Diaz Negrin, respectively.
Dariusz Polonski (PL), who is flying the colours of Team Rallytechnology, began this year at the wheel of an Abarth 124 rally in the Vančík Rallysprint Kopná winning in the R-GT category.
Andrea Nucita (EN) is an experienced Abarth 124 rally driver having won several times in the R-GT category and achieving excellent results on absolute level in the Croatian championship races in 2018, year in which he also competed in the FIA R-GT Cup ending second. Nucita is running with the Bernini Rally Team.
Alberto Monarri (SP) also knows the Abarth 124 rally well, after driving it in 2018 in the 2WD Spanish Tarmac Rally Championship and winning in the R-GT category at the same time. He is running with the SMC Junior Motorsport team, that will be present with second car driven by local Carlos David Garcia Perez.
After a successful 2018 season, culminating in winning the FIA R-GT Cup, the European Rally Championship and 12 national category championships, the Abarth 124 rally is now seen as the GT to beat.
The 2019 configuration of the Abarth 124 rally has been further improved in terms of performance, as demonstrated by the remarkable season debut in France, in the Rallye Lyon Charbonnières, of young driver Nicolas Ciamin in team with Antony Vilanova (FR). The duo dominated the R-GT+ category securing a promising 5th place in the absolute ranking. Ciamin also had the satisfaction of scoring the absolute best time in one of the fastest special trials at average speeds in excess of 120 kilometres per hour.
The Abarth drivers competing for the Abarth Rally Cup 2019 have the chance to win a prize for each race. More in detail, EUR 12,000 goes to the winner, EUR 10,000 to the second, EUR 8,000 to the third and EUR 4,000 plus four Pirelli racing tyres to the fourth. The winner of the Abarth Rally Cup 2019 will receive a grand prize of EUR 30,000 at the end of the season.
The course of the Rally Islas Canarias is on tarmac and is very tortuous, on steep mountain roads. The weekend starts on Thursday 2 with the qualifiers. The first leg will start on Friday May 3 at 9:15 in the morning and will end at 6:56 in the evening after eight special stages. The second leg kicks off on Saturday, May 4 and will take place from 9 a.m. to 5:42 p.m. across eight timed fractions. The total course is 575 kilometres long, of which no fewer than 201 kilometres are in special stages.

Turin, 2 May 2019