The Fiat Stilo ice racing team swept to stunning victories in both finals of the Trophée Andros in front of more than 55,000 spectators in the Stade de France as the spectacular mountain ice racing series came to the heart of Paris on 18th March.

The 2006 Trophée Andros had kicked off at the beginning of last December in the snow and ice of the Van Thorens ski resort, before the hectic seven-event series came to a climax at Clemont on 28th January this year. A trans-Atlantic date for the series in Canada was slotted in before the real 'jewel in the crown' of ice racing - the 'Super Finals' - were held at the Stade de France, the gigantic, modern stadium which was built in Paris to host the 1998 Football World Cup finals.

In their seconds season of ice racing the Fiat France supported Stilo ice racers have been in the thick of all the track action. This year the team was managed by Overdrive along with the hugely experienced French racing preparation specialists ORECA. The 'silhouette' Fiat Stilo features a highly-developed 24-valve, 3.0-litre V6 engine (which is drawn from the Fiat Ulysse MPV, to fit the series' technical requirements that state the racer's engine must be Fiat-sourced) mated up to a competition 6-speed sequential gearbox and fed to the wheels through a four wheel drive transmission. It all adds up to a ice racing car that pumps out 350bhp, all of which it then put down through narrow 16-inch 'knobbly' tyres onto a track surface which comprises of nothing less than pure ice.

The driving line-up for the 2006 series was both experienced and quick on ice, with former French Formula One hopeful Franck Lagorce joined once more in the Fiat France supported by Philippe de Korsak, the rapid pair sharing the leading entry. New for the season though was a second official car which was piloted by Margot Laffite and Justine Monnier-Chicherit taking part in the Trophée Andros Féminin, which was contested by twenty five other rapid female racers, over seven rounds of the Trophée Andros. Undisputed king of ice racing, the touring car racing star Yvan Muller driving a Kia Rio, claimed yet another title after ratcheting up 896 points over the seven rounds, just ahead of former triple F1 World Champion Alain Prost (881 pts) in a Toyota Corolla and Jean-Phillippe Dayraut (877pts) at the wheel of a BMW 1-series. Fourth place in the classification went to the the first of the Fiat Stilo pilots, Frank Lagorce (852 pts), while team-mate de Phillippe de Korsak was an eventual 13th (723 pts).
 

The 'Super Final' in the awesome surroundings of the Stade de France - with its purpose-created ice track laid over the usual football pitch - was the event though that everyone wanted to win, and the entry list contained the cream of ice racing names, as well as household motorsport names such as Yvan Muller, Alain Prost, Oliver Panis, Bertrand Balas and Danny Snobeck. Lagorce and de Korsak were fast throughout their individual heats and each finished second in their respective semi-finals, setting themselves up ideally for the two 'grand finals'.

Having fended off the close attentions of de Korsak in the semi-final Paul Bourion (Kia Rio) started the first of the finals from pole, leading former F1 driver Oliver Panis (Toyota Corolla) and de Korsak's Stilo. Despite building up a lead of several lengths Panis and Korsak chased down the factory Kia Rio driver, and a mistake by Bourion right at the end of the race which, Panis could not avoid, allowed de Korsak to dive through and claim the victory. The Fiat driver was classified first after completing the course in 2 min 18.219 secs, with Panis second (2 min 18.357 secs) and Bourion quickly demoted to third as a result of his mistake (2 min 18.679 secs).

This all set Lagorce up nicely for the second 'grand final', and diving into the lead during a start-line melee he held his advantage to cross the line in first place in a time of 2 min 17.845 secs, comfortably ahead of Dayraut (2 min 19.315 secs) and Muller (2 min 20.299 secs). The startline drama saw Prost eliminated on the very first bend, but it was the day of the Fiat drivers' - Lagorce and de Korsak who celebrated in style on the podium in front of the huge and frenzied banks of spectators.