The Fiat
Panda Natural Power, Italy's best-selling alternative
fuelled production car has just been a protagonist in the
fourth edition of Ecorally, where it won the class for
methane-powered vehicles. The dual petrol/methane-powered
Panda, was
entered in Ecorally San Marino by a team from EcoMotori, while other Fiat
representatives in the two-day event included a Marea,
Doblò, 500, Grande Punto and Barchetta, as well as an Alfa
Romeo MiTo.
The route of this fourth edition took the
crews from the start line in the Republic of San Marino, via
Sansepolcro, Gubbio, Assisi, Torgiano and Spoleto before the
end of leg one was reached at Magliano Sabina. The next day,
the second and final leg saw the cars continuing on their
path through central Italy, travelling to Rome and
Castelgandolfo before the event finished in the Vatican
City.
Ecorally
San Marino was born in 2006 when it started from Piazza San Pietro in the Vatican City before arriving San Marino. It is
an international race controlled by F.I.A. regulations and
its aim is to promote and develop alternative energy-powered
vehicles with low environmental impact.
This new
kind of competition, exclusively tuned to ecological
vehicles, is consistent with the innovative nature of
automotive sporting competitions where in the past just like
in the present many technical concepts are tested through
competition. This event intends to show off to the
spectators the performance of these vehicles and their
adaptability to daily use. The Regularity and Consumption
tests are two different kinds of the Driving Test that the
F.I.A. has introduced to these competitions. Entrants obtain
a single score, deriving from the absolute classification.
This score is valid for F.I.A. Competitors Test and for III
& IIIA Categories, for IV, VII & VIII Categories and also
for F.I.A. title, reserved for manufacturers.
