- Thirty Tatuus single-seaters with Abarth engines on stage at the Enzo & Dino Ferrari circuit, Imola, for the halfway stage of the Italian F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth.
- Again, Oliver Bearman is doing his best to get way ahead in the standings in the Italian series, with Montoya looking for his first victory this season and Fornaroli seeking redemption.
- At the Rally di Roma Capitale, the Abarth 124 rally returns to the tarmac in round 3 of the FIA European Rally Championship, and is in the running for the FIA R-GT Cup.
It will be a weekend in the name of the Scorpion on the roads and racetracks of Italy. From Friday, July 23rd to Sunday, July 25th, round 4 of the Italian F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth Certified by FIA – the halfway stage of the ACI Sport series – will take to the stage at Imola. At the same time, the roads of Rome will witness the Rally di Roma Capitale, the opening race of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) season on tarmac. Part of the European series, the Abarth Rally Cup will involve the Abarth 124 rally. Having given its opponents a hard time on ground as challenging as the Polish and Latvian gravel, it will be kicking off the 2nd FIA R-GT Cup event on the roads of the Italian capital.
At the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, the numbers remain great for the Italian F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth, with as many as 30 single-seaters on the starting grid for the 4th event this season, on the banks of the Santerno river. The one to beat remains Oliver Bearman (GBR – Van Amersfoort Racing), the dominant force in both the Italian series and the ADAC Formel 4 Powered by Abarth. With Tim Tramnitz (GER – US Racing) out of the race, Sebastian Montoya (COL – Prema Powerteam) will be the main rival of the Brit driving for Van Amersfoort, although all eyes will also be on Kirill Smal (RUS – Prema Powerteam) and Leonardo Fornaroli (ITA – Iron Lynx), seeking redemption after a weekend of mixed fortunes at Vallelunga. A new entry in the series is France’s Maceo Capietto (FRA – Prema Powerteam), having already demonstrated his prowess in the early races of French Formula 4. Among the rookies, Leonardo Bizzotto (ITA – BVM Racing) will be trying to maintain the lead in the standings, watching his back for the accomplished Conrad Laursen (DNK – Prema Powerteam), Lorenzo Patrese (ITA – AKM Motorsport) and Maya Weug (NDL – Iron Lynx).
The schedule for round 4 of the Italian F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth Certified by FIA includes two practice sessions on Friday and the two qualifiers on Saturday at 9:40 am, with race 1 to be run at 4:10 pm. Two races will be held on Sunday, at 10:20 am and 5:15 pm.
Conversely, having taken victory in the first two events of the season, Dariusz Poloński and Łukasz Sitek will be going for 3 out of 3 on the roads of Rome. In the running for the lead in the Abarth Rally Cup – round 3 of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) – will be Roberto Gobbin, with Alessandro Cervi as his navigator. Last year, the Italian crew finished second among the Abarth 124 rally cars, while the Polish Rallytechnology team was forced to withdraw. The evocative route of the Rally di Roma Capitale will start from Castel Sant'Angelo on Friday at 7:00 pm, with the first 2.72-km special stage scheduled at 8:08 pm on the roads alongside the ancient Roman Baths of Caracalla. Saturday 6th, special stages on the roads around Fiuggi, a total of 64.18 km of trials, followed on Sunday by the 7 special stages to complete the Rally di Roma Capitale, the overall distance of which is 731.04 km, with 190.09 km of special stages in the scorching heat of a Roman July.
Turin, July 22nd, 2021
