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Fiat Abarth Racing is looking forward to the official debut of its diesel
challengers at the upcoming round of the Bridgestone South African Production Car
Championship. Having tested the waters at Phakisa in the previous round of the
championship, the team is upbeat about their prospects ahead of the Wesbank
Raceway event on 3 June.
The team will run two identically powered Agip Fiat Grande Punto 1.9 Diesels in
the Junior Production Car Championship, with Theunis Eloff and Trevor Tuck doing
driving duty.
“We decided to run one car at the previous event as a precursor to the official
launch,” explains Theunis Eloff. “Despite being a test run, the car exceeded
expectations, setting the fastest lap in qualifying. As expected there were some
minor teething problems, however this is par for the course when introducing a
new car.”
Having had the opportunity to test the new Fiat and iron out the introductory
niggles at the previous race, the team are now gearing up for the official debut
of both Agip Grande Puntos at Wesbank Raceway. “We got a taste of what the
Grande Punto can do at Phakisa. The car seems to be
competitive even at this early stage in development, giving
us a great platform to build on moving forward,” said Eloff.
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The team will run two identically powered Agip
Fiat Grande Punto 1.9 Diesels in the Junior
Production Car Championship, with Theunis Eloff and
Trevor Tuck doing driving duty. |
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In a dream South African debut
at Phakisa last month for the Fiat Grande Punto, Theunis Eloff put in
a stunning performance and qualified the diesel Fiat
on pole position in its first ever competition
appearance. |
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The event marks the first visit for the Bridgestone
Production Car Series to Wesbank Raceway in Germiston.
“I’m not sure what to expect,” comments Trevor Tuck. “A
new car and a new circuit all in one weekend will certainly be a challenge. My
goal will be to learn as much as possible about the new car in a short space of
time and then look towards a strong points haul in the race. Theunis and I will
need to work very closely throughout the weekend in order to get the most out of
the car and a strong result for the team.” Trevor Tuck currently lies in
second position in the championship log with Theunis gaining ground in fourth
place. “We still have a lot of work ahead
of us, however the team has done a fantastic job in getting the Grande Puntos to
where they are now and we are sure that we are only going to progress from
here,” concluded Eloff.
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