Fiat Chrysler Automobiles : Abarth 124 Rally scores its first 2WD win in Rally Villa de Adeje

• SMC Junior Motorsport, sponsored by Afrasa, comes tenth overall in Tenerife event
• Driver Álvaro Muñiz Mora and navigator Antonio Solórzano win all the timed sections in the Italian car
• Abarth's racing managers attend the rally in person
• Next CERA event is in Ourense on 9 and 10 June

Alcalá de Henares, Spain, 14 May 2017. - Days after the Rally Islas Canarias, the only Spanish event to count towards the European championship, the SMC Junior Motorsport team upped sticks from Gran Canaria to Tenerife and competed in the Rally Villa de Adeje. This was the second of two consecutive events on the CERA calendar to be held in the Canaries.

The Abarth 124 Rally made a big impact in Gran Canaria, winning several legs in the 2WD category. The Madrid-based team, captained by Gonzalo Martín de Andrés, then spent a week working hard to prepare the Italian car for similar success in Tenerife, with on-the-ground support from Abarth's racing managers, Mauricio Gonzalvo and Andrea Barbieri.

The two Italians travelled to Adeje to see the Abarth 124 Rally in action, and expressed pleasant surprise at SMC Junior Motorsport's success in the Islas Canarias, a major international competition. The car, sponsored by the agricultural chemicals company Afrasa, has undergone a series of mechanical changes at the behest of Abarth's Turin headquarters.

The Italian engineers expressed particular appreciation for the development work being carried out in Spain on the Abarth-homologated R-GT, and said they were returning home with an even more favourable impression.

Driver Álvaro Muñiz Mora, navigator Antonio Solórzano and the SMC Junior Motorsport team put in a faultless performance during the two stages of the Adeje rally. The Abarth 124 was unbeatable from start to finish, showing its potential with the best scores in the twelve timed sections and even comparing favourably with cars in higher categories.

The driver and navigator gave the island spectators some thrill-packed entertainment, taking the Abarth 124 to its first victory in the timed sections of a Spanish Rally Championship event, and a magnificent tenth place in the overall rankings.

This result was particularly impressive given that the car has raced only three times, and reflects both Abarth's mechanical expertise and the hard work of the SMC Junior Motorsport team.

'It was third time lucky,' said driver Álvaro Muñiz. 'We won the 2WD, and we were very fast overall, particularly during the first stage, so overall the race was very positive. We now have two rallies in Galicia, Ourense and Ferrol, where some sections of the track won't be quite so favourable to our GT. But I'm confident in the team. They've worked very hard in these two events in the Canaries, and I'm sure we can go on to create a winning car in nearly all conditions. This is the challenge we face.'

Muñiz will also be driving the Abarth 124 Rally at the Ourense event on 9 and 10 June. This will be held in parallel with the second in-person round of the virtual Abarth Rally, which is being staged in a marquee provided by Abarth. The competition, using the videogame Dirt Rally® and PlayStation®4 virtual reality headsets, began in Gran Canaria a few days ago.

Turin, 16 May 2017