The Fiat Stilo has proved an instantly competitive proposition in the 2005 Andros Trophée, and with two rounds completed, the trio of Stilos are snapping at the heels of the series' leaders.

The six-round chapionship kicked off at Val Thorens, on an all-ice purpose-built circuit, situated at 1,803 metres above sea level, on December 4th.

And it was Jean Philippe Dayrut, who was drafted into the Team AS Events Fiat Stilo to partner Steve Stievenart, who immediately posted the fastest qualifying time around the 805 metres long circuit, just ahead of former three times Formula One World Champion, Alain Prost, who is in a Toyota Corolla.

The all-new ice racing Fiat Stilo is a lightweight 'silhouette' racer. Underneath, is a tubular spaceframe chassis developed by the highly regarded Tork Engineering concern, using the latest computer aided design methods.

A 24-valve 3.0-litre V6 engine, mated to a competition 6-speed sequential gearbox and four wheel drive, pumps out 350bhp, all of which has to be put down through narrow 16-inch 'knobbly' tyres onto a surface of pure ice! The whole package, the body is made from weight-saving composite materials, weighs in at the series limit of 950kgs.

Saturday's first Elite-class final at Val Thorens saw matters get even better for Fiat as a stunning debut victory went to the two-tone-blue Sport Garage-entered Fiat Stilo of French racing star Franck Lagorce, who finished just under two seconds ahead of Bertrand Balas' Citroen C2 in the six-lap encounter.

The Fiat driver's then consolidated their positions in the opening day's second race, Lagorce's team-mate, Philippe de Korsak, coming home fifth, while three places higher up the order and missing victory by just 2.1 seconds was the AS Events-entered Stilo of Jean Philippe Dayrut.

Day two saw Dayrut finish second in the opening race to Yvan Muller's Kia Rio, while in the closing race of this meeting, Franck Lagorce rounded the excellent weekend out by strolling to his second victory.

Last weekend saw the series move onto the legendary L'Alpe d'Huez, and awaiting the competitors was an icy, twisting, 820 metre long circuit, situated at 2,050 metres above sea-level.

Leading out the Fiat Stilo challenge, Jean-Phillipe Dayrut again took the fight to the opposition, which also includes entries from Toyota, Kia, Seat, Citroen, Renault and Alfa Romeo. Second in the opening day's race at L'Alpe d'Huez was his AS Events team-mate, Franck Lagorce, while Dayrut continued the solid work with a fine third place in the day's second race.

Day two, and this pairing were still in the thick of the action. Dayrut finished the opening race second only to Yvan Muller, in fact he was less than 1.2 seconds adrift of his fellow Frenchman, who is also the most successful driver in ice racing history, while de Korsak claimed sixth place in the day's final encounter.

The other Stilo driver's have also been scoring strong finishes. Laurent Fouquet, in the Team AMV-Sofinco car which he is sharing with Laurent Brechet, finished fifth in this last race, leading high-flying Dayrut's team-mate in the AS Events car, Steve Stievenart, across the line.

The two Alfa Romeo 147 'silhoutte' racers are also starting to come into their own, with Jean Noël Launctuit, in the Clude Millet Auto Rallye-entered car, following Alain Prost across the line in the closing L'Alpe d'Huez encounter to claim an excellent second spot. His team-mate in the black Alfa 147, Joël Stere, had earlier taken fourth place during the meeting's opening race.

So after four races, Yvan Muller leads the championship table with 305 points, while 'The Professor' Alain Prost is second on 300. Jean Philippe Dayrut keeps the Fiat runners firmly in the hunt, the Team AS driver holding onto third place with 292 points, while Franck Lagorce is next up in the Sport Garage-entered car (275 points). The Andros Trophée now moves on to another famous ski resort, Isola 2000, on January 8th, with four races scheduled to be run over two days on a purpose-built 800m all-ice course.