Augusto Farfus will get behind the wheel of his Alfa 156 for the very last time next week when he demonstrates the FIA World Touring Car Championship race winning machine in the Shell Arena during the Bologna Motor Show. Adding further spice and much excitement, Farfus will be joined in the Alfa 156 touring car line-up by MotoGP star Marco Melandri.

After three years with Alfa Romeo factory N.technology team in the FIA WTCC, the 23-year-old Brazilian driver will contest the next touring car season at the wheel of a Schnitzer Motorsport BMW 320si alongside Jörg Müller. "I'm delighted that this up-and-coming touring car ace will line up for us in 2007," said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen yesterday. "Since having made his debut in the 2004 European Touring Car Championship he has learned a lot and displayed a steep upward trend. In the 2006 WTCC season he was among the title contenders up to the very last round. To be able to stand up to the extremely competitive field in this hard-fought championship demonstrates his extraordinary skills."

Farfus, who finished the 2006 WTCC third in the Drivers' Championship behind Andy Priaulx and his new team-mate Jörg Müller, commented: "I'm really happy to become a BMW works driver. It's an honour when a company like BMW give me the chance to compete for them. I'm confident to be in a competitive car and my goal is to become World Champion with BMW. The 2007 season opener will be held in my home town of Curitiba, which gives me additional motivation.”

As well as Farfus, the races in Bologna will feature fellow professionals the calibre of Alex Zanardi, Nicola Larini, Loris Capirossi, and Marco Melandri, in the Bomb Boogie Eurotouring. Gigi Galli, Chris Atkinson, Andreas Aigner and Tony Gardemeister, in the Barclaycard Bettega Memorial. Max Biaggi, Andrea Dovizioso, Alex De Angelis, Randy de Puniet and Carlos Checa competing in Barclaycard Superbikers. To mark his retirement from racing Stefan Everts, 10 times Cross Bike world champion, will take part to the Bomb Boogie Extreme Supermotard. All eyes will also be on Vitantonio Liuzzi for the Toro Rosso F1 Team Show on 10 December.

The very best names and vehicles, cars and motorbikes, will be in the Shell Arena, for a 2006 Bologna Motor Show destined to go down in history even for its sports section. Illustrious names, in all categories, and vehicles able to put on a show during the eleven days that will see the champions of the various disciplines, a total of 220 drivers, take to centre stage in twenty-seven competitions. Until such time as the final line-up is complete, let us take a look at the biggest names that have already guaranteed their presence on the track.

For the four-wheeled car section, the hottest competitions, as regards the wealth and calibre of participants, are the Bomb Boogie Eurotouring and the Barclaycard Bettega Memorial. In the Bomb Boogie Eurotouring, scheduled for Sunday 10 December, the main celebrity and the man to beat will be Alex Zanardi of the BMW Italy-Spain team. It will not be easy for anyone to keep up with him and his BMW 320i, even for veteran experts like the one chosen after the Macao race between Jorg and Dirk Muller of the BMW Germany team, at the wheel of a BMW 320si E90. Race participants will also include Roberto Colciago and Gabriele Tarquini, both on Seat Leons, Augusto Farfus behind the wheel of an Alfa 156, and Nicola Larini, with his Chevrolet Lacetti. However, the event will be made all the more exciting due to the participation of Loris Capirossi, Seat Leon, and Marco Melandri, Alfa 156, who will undoubtedly make the most of the opportunity to battle things out between them once again as they did throughout the Motorcycle GP season.

One must-see event in the Shell Arena is the Barclaycard Bettega Memorial during the last three days of the Motor Show. As usual, the level of both vehicles and drivers will be exceptionally high. The brands that have already confirmed their participation include Subaru, competing with an Impreza WRC belonging to the Prodrive team assigned to Australian driver Chris Atkinson, one of the revelations of the 2006 world championship and official driver for the Manufacturer for the 2007 Rally world championship. However the Italian flag will be skilfully defended by Gigi Galli in the “saddle“ of a Peugeot 307 WRC belonging to the Bozian team. The Valtellina driver, third in the Argentina rally in one of his spot appearances in the world championship, could be the wild card of the traditional indoor event. However, there will be no shortage of big-name rivals, namely the main players during the current 2006 world championship.
 

These include the Finn Tony Gardemeister, always one of the top achievers with his Citroen Xsara WRC for the Astra Racing team and the Austrian Andreas Aigner behind the wheel of the Skoda Fabia WRC of the official Red Bull team. The crowd will be eager to discover what Piero Longhi, runner-up in the 2006 Italian championship, will be able to achieve behind the wheel of his Subaru Impreza WRC, and the potential of Simone Campedelli, twenty, from Savignano sul Rubicone in the province of Cesena, driving another Skoda Fabia. It will be his very first time driving a WRC vehicle and there are plenty of surprises awaiting him. More thrills will be guaranteed by the two Ford Focus WRCs driven by Andreas Mikkelsen and Motor Show veteran Mark Higgins.

A start-list that dreams are made of is guaranteed for all three biking events scheduled, the Eastpak Freestyle Show, Barclaycard Superbikers and Bomb Boogie Extreme Supermotard. During the first four days open to the public all eyes will be on the champions performing in the Eastpak Freestyle Show who come from all four corners of the globe. The American School still represents a reference point and at the Motor Show it will be represented by Ronnie Renner, Wiley Fulmer, Robbie Maddison and Matt Buyten, the survivors of the finals of the recent X Games, the maximum expression of the Freestyle discipline. The Italian crowd will have its first opportunity to admire the skills of Japanese stuntmen Daisuke Suzuki and Eigo Sato, as well as those of Swede Ailo Gaup, and Italians Stefano Minguzzi and Alvaro Dal Farra.

On Saturday 9 December, the spotlights will be on the riders participating in the Barclaycard Superbikers, challenge between bikers from the Motorcycle GP and the SBK championships. In the saddles of their 450 Hp supermotards, the bikers will battle it out as the excitement mounts, alongside this year’s newcomers. One of the most popular will undoubtedly be Max Biaggi who, after a sabbatical year off the track, will participate in SBK with a Team Alstare Suzuki. The four-time champion, astride a Suzuki Supermotard, will find a many great rivals on his road, including  the winner of the last edition of Superbikers, Frenchman Randy de Puniet, who has just terminated a less than brilliant 2006 season with Kawasaki in the Motorcycle GP category. Another GP biker taking part is Spaniard Carlos Checa. The 250 class world championship will also lend two more favourites for the battle in the Shell Arena, championship runner-up Andrea Dovizioso with Honda and San Marino-born Alex De Angelis, the newly crowned winner of the 2006 GP season. Other favourites for the title include the former Supersport champion Fabien Foret and our very own Giovanni Bussei.

The first-rate competitions will also include the Bomb Boogie Extreme Supermotard. The Shell Arena during the last two days of the Motor Show - Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 December – will provide the venue for the race, on mixed off-road-tarmac surface, between the discipline’s most modern schools. The stars of the spectacular American Superbike Championship will include celebrities the calibre of David Pingree and Andy Cassidy and the star of the Supercross category in the 1990s Micky Dymond, who has enjoyed great success in this new discipline. The American aces will have to duel with the patrol of European specialists, including the two 2006 World Champions, the Frenchman Thierry Van den Bosch on an Aprilia, in the S2 category, and the young German Bernd Hiemer with his KTM, in the S1 category. To these we can add former world champions Belgians Gerard Delepine on Husqvarna, and Eddy Seel with his Suzuki as well as Frenchman Gerome Girando, who gave Aprilia its first title victory in 2005.

If the Superbike world champions are not enough to guarantee a thrilling show, we can add another big name with the 10-time world champion Stefan Everts. Off-road’s number one will close an incredible and difficult to match career in the Shell Arena. Everts’ presence will contribute to further heightening the guaranteed excitement of the Bomb Boogie Extreme Supermotard. Two last names to complete the startlist are Frenchman Yves De Maria, who recently clinched the MX3 championship, and native Chicco Chiodi who, following his Cross bike triumphs, would appear increasingly interested in supermotard.

Last but not least, Formula 1 will be the dish on the menu in the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Show on 10 December, when driver Vitantonio Liuzzi will set alight the enthusiasm of the public and spectators in the Shell Arena during the day’s two fixtures, with a series of breathtaking laps.