Young French driver Nicolas Ciamin, with his navigator Thilbaut De la Haye, will drive the Abarth 124 rally of the Milano Racing team in the 53rd Antibes Cote d'Azur Rally, the third round in the 2018 French Rally Championship, which starts from the holiday resort on the Côte d'Azur this morning (Saturday).

Fresh from their R-GT class win on the Rallye Lyon-Charbonnières, which took place on 19-21 April, Ciamin and the Abarth 124 Rally start as the favourites for honours on what is a particularly beautiful course which share many tests with the Monte Carlo Rally, including the legendary Col de Turini and Col de Braus special stages.

Beautiful certainty, but also tough, since there are no fewer than 204 km of timed tests, subdivided into 12 special stages, out of a total rally distance that totals 660 km. There are two legs: the first takes place today and the second tomorrow, Sunday, with the survivors scheduled to reach finishline reached at 1625 on Day 2.

With the conclusion of this event the French Rally Championship will have reached the two-thirds distance point as six more rallies remain.

Before the start, Ciamin was enthusiastic: "I can't wait to tackle these twisty roads in the Abarth 124 Rally, which has proved very competitive in the early races of the season, even in overall terms. The Col de Turini is something of a university of rallying, and its long climb and dizzying descent should showcase all the Abarth 124 Rally's outstanding balance and agility."

Ciamin kept in training last weekend by taking part in the third round in the Trofeo Abarth, which took place at Paul Ricard, where he claimed an excellent third place overall, a result even more impressive considering it was the first time he had driven the Abarth 695 Assetto Corse Evoluzione in a race and he was up against highly experienced ‘Trofeo’ drivers.

This weekend will also see the 45th edition of the Rallye Cesky Krumlov, which takes place in the Czech Republic and on the bumper entry list is the Abarth 124 Rally of the Agrotec Czech Abarth team which will be driven by Czech crew Martin Rada and Jaroslav Jugas.

The rally, located in South Bohemia, is split into two legs with a total of 15 special test stages adding up to 158 km while the fully rally distance will be 532 km.

As Rada explained, competition in the Czech Rally Championship is tough and they will have a battle on their hands to move up the order. "In our championship there are more than one hundred entries for every [rally], with twenty or so cars in the R5 and WRC categories as well as six in the Gran Turismo class, all driven by very fast drivers, this makes every event highly competitive."

Photos: Abarth 124 Rally (season 2018)