The truth is out there!
Posted by Nick Trott at 5:40PM on Tuesday 06 March, 2007 2 Comments
I have in my hands a can of worms. And I'm going to open it.
I'm at the Geneva motor show and I've just watched Luca di Montezemolo take the wraps off a very foxy-looking Fiat Grande Punto Abarth. It's a funky little monkey. All 70s retro graphics and sprightly engines. 155bhp from a turbo 1.4 and there's an S2000 rally version with 270bhp too. Nice.
DiMonte looked as cool as ever but there was something about his presence at the unveiling that got me thinking.
Luca Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo is a very busy man. Formerly the boss of Ferrari, he now heads up the entire Fiat empire. That he should take the time to hang out with the press at the unveiling of the Abarth, surprised me. I mean - it's not even a new model - just a hot derivative.
Surprised and somewhat intrigued. Then it happened. My mind went into Fox Mulder mode and a whopper of a conspiracy theory emerged.
Luca knows a thing or two about motorsport. He bossed Ferrari's F1 effort, twice. Luca also knows a thing or two about marketing and promotion. He organised the 1990 World Cup in Italy and made himself very visible when a certain curly haired MotoGP legend got a few tests in a Ferrari F1 car last year.
Ah, Valentino Rossi. Mr Rossi loves rallying. And he's pretty handy too, having finished 11th in the Rally of New Zealand last year. In fact, he's more likely to go rallying than do F1 when he retires his Yamaha MotoGP bike at the end of 2008.
Ah, Yamaha's MotoGP bike. A 240bhp weapon sponsored this year by none other than Fiat. See where I'm heading?
And there's more. Over at the Suzuki stand sat a sweet-looking WRC car. Based on the SX4 road car, this WRC weapon will be competing in selected WRC events this year and doing a full season in 2008.
And - get this - the SX4 shares a platform with a Fiat. A crappy Fiat (the Sedici), but a Fiat nonetheless.
So, my conspiracy theory goes something like this:
Valentino Rossi will retire from MotoGP in 2008 when his Yamaha (sponsored by Fiat) contract expires.
He will sign a deal to contest in the 2009 WRC driving a brand new Fiat Grande Punto (or Sedici) Abarth WRC car.
The car will be instantly competitive, having benefited from an intense two-year R&D programme carried out by its brother - the Suzuki SX4 WRC.
Vale may even be quick enough to bother the top drivers in his first year, and challenge for the championship in 2010.
Shoot me down if you dare (post a reply below), but Luca had a glint in his eye. I saw it.
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I want to see this Fiat race.