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Despite the blistering July heat, the teams in the Abarth 124 rally, which won three championships at the same time, had a triple victory last weekend in and around Rome: the European Championship (ERC), the Abarth rally Cup and the FIA R-GT Cup. Dariusz Polonski and co-driver Lukasz Sitek from Poland not only triumphed in the one-make cup for Abarth ahead of Italian crews Zelindo Melegari / Corrado Bonato and Andrea Nucita / Bernardo di Caro. The three teams also took the first three places in the ERC2 ranking of the European Championship and in the ranking for the FIA R-GT Cup.
Races are won in the turns, not on the straight
“Races are won in the corners, not the straights”. The motto of Carlo Abarth, the legendary tuner for Fiat, Simca and Alfa Romeo in the 50s and 60s, is also taken literally by the audience at this year's Rally di Roma Capitale. Hundreds of them line the spectacular hairpin bend in Rocca Secca, a village of 7500 souls about 120 kilometers away from Rome, on this hot summer Sunday. Abarth, who was actually called Karl and came from Austria, would have enjoyed the three Abarth 124 rallies with start numbers 24,25, 26 and 43, which are participating in the FIA European Rally Championship (EM) in the Abarth Rally Cup and the nasty turn now dashed through in a group of a total of XNUMX vehicles every minute.
Bucket seat, six-point suspender straps and a steel roll bar for safety
For this fifth round of the Rally European Championship, which is also considered the fourth race of the Abarth Rallye Cup, the empty 1.000 kilogram lightweight Italian sports car with rear-wheel drive and the 1800 ccm turbo engine with 300 PS has been optimized in many details. The Abarth engineers specifically improved the engine electronics, the transmission, the power transmission and the chassis. More torque is now available in all speed ranges, shifts and switching speeds have been shortened. The Abarth 124 rally is based on the production model Abarth 124 Spider, but is modified according to the technical regulations of the category R-GT. The soft top of the production Roadster is replaced by a hardtop made of carbon fiber Kevlar composite. Bucket seat, six-point harness suspenders and the roll bar made of arm-thick steel tubes ensure the safety of the driver.
Dariusz Polonski is still looking forward to victory if he can handle the tarmac around the Italian capital.
Rallying is the motorsport you can touch
Each of the participants has their own method of approaching the turn in Rocca Secca that is part of the special stage WP2. Most drivers lay down a spectacular drift with the handbrake on on the asphalt, which was glowing in the July heat, some of them circle neatly along the short curve radius. The rise in applause from the audience on the street and on the balconies shows which style appeals to the audience: definitely the drift. It is not without reason that rallying is considered "hands-on motorsport". There is no other type of motor sport where you are closer to the action, the deafening noise of the vehicles mixes with church bells on Sundays or the smell of high-performance petrol with the after-shave of the predominantly male audience.
850 kilometers with 16 special stages over 203 kilometers are waiting for the Rally Roma
The seventh Rally Rom Capitale began last Friday in front of Castel Sant'Angelo in the Italian capital. The distance of 850 kilometers with 16 special stages over 203 kilometers places high demands on the drivers, who also have to cope with the sweltering heat of around 30 degrees. The level of adapting to factors such as changing road surfaces, knolls and jumps as driver and co-driver is high to demanding, emphasizes Andrea Nucita in the Abarth 124 rally (Bernini Rally Team) during the break in the service park in Fiuggi about 80 kilometers from Rome. Nevertheless, he is convinced that the route suits his car with the scorpion in the logo particularly well. For Nucita's team-mate Melegari (Bernini Raly Team) it is the first start in an Abarth rally car: “The Abarth 124 rally is a great car that is really fun. For me it is particularly exciting to be driving an Italian car as an Italian driver. " Dariusz Polonski (Team Rallytechonology) has so far mostly driven the Abarth 124 rally on gravel roads. “You have to be able to adapt quickly on this route. Sometimes there are very wide streets, then suddenly there is a tunnel and suddenly it becomes very narrow. Then again it goes into the forest, where the slope is very dirty. To drive at the limit, but not to overdo it, that is what is required. "
Text: Solveig Grewe
Photos: Solveig Grewe and FCA