AUBURN HILLS, Mich., July 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
- FIAT brand and Hoonigan come together to support women in auto racing and to find the next great
female racer
- After competitions at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix,
Arizona, the field narrowed to six finalists
- Winner to be named on Friday, July 14
- Follow the competition as it rolls out on FIAT and Hoonigan social channels
The FIAT Brand North America is taking the Abarth name back to its racing roots with the creation of a 124 Spider
Abarth rally car. Recognizing the breadth of female driving talent in the racing community, FIAT is working with
Hoonigan, a motorsport-lifestyle brand, to find the next great female driver to race the 124 Spider Abarth rally car. This
400-horsepower specially made coupe roadster calls back to the origin of the brand with racing icon Karl Abarth.
From over 150 entries, six accomplished female drivers – Michelle Abbate (Las Vegas, Nevada), Collete Davis (San Francisco, California),
Sally McNulty (Phoenix, Arizona), Sara
Price (Canyon Lake, California), Rathyna Gomer (Colton, California) and Suzanne Valdivia (Modesto, California)
– were chosen to compete for the title of "Next Female Hoonigan" and the opportunity to race the 124 Spider Abarth
rally car. The road trip and competitions at Bondurant can be viewed here.
The winner will be named on Friday, July 14 following additional competition,
including the prestigious Mount Washington Hill Climb – a perfect venue given the hill climb heritage of the Abarth.
Stay tuned to Hoonigan and FIAT social
and digital channels to watch the rest of the competition unfold and to find out which driver will ultimately represent FIAT
and be the next female Hoonigan.
Hoonigan athlete and Top Fuel drag racer Leah Pritchett helped kick start the search, hosting
the program launch video. Phase one of the driver search, which launched April 18 and concluded
May 10, called for applicants to make their case in a one-minute video demonstrating what makes
them rad enough and fast enough to get behind the wheel of Fiat's competition vehicle.
Contestants arrived at Hoonigan headquarters on May 24 and completed some fun,
warm-up challenges before pairing off and road-tripping in production 124 Spider Abarth vehicles to the Bob Bondurant School
of High Performance Driving in Phoenix, Arizona. At Bondurant, the racers competed and
proved their worth in 124 Spider Abarth production cars, aiming to earn the right to race in the rally car.
About Hoonigan Media Machine
Hoonigan Media Machine is the creative team behind the viral Ken Block Gymkhana film series. Hoonigan Media Machine is
focused on content creation and is fully equipped to handle production on a wide range of video projects in the automotive
community. Led by Hoonigan Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder Brian Scotto, the production team
ideate and produce highly sharable, award-winning content from photos to short viral clips to long-form video for both top
athletes and personalities and influential brands. For more information on Hoonigan Media Machine, please visit www.hoonigan.com and remember to Hoon Responsibly.
What does Hoonigan mean?
- It's a portmanteau (Look it up, yo!): the combination of "hooligan" and "hoon," the Australian term for screwing about in
cars.
- A person who operates a motor vehicle in an aggressive and unorthodox manner, consisting of, but not limited to, drifting,
burnouts, donuts, as well as acts of automotive aeronautics. One who Hoons.
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SOURCE FCA US LLC