A pair of factory-supported Abarth 695 Assetto Corse machines will tackle the 2014 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour from February 7-9.
The tiny Italian machines were recently put through their paces at Phillip Island on a wet test day.
Each entry will be spearheaded by professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell and will be co-driven by motoring journalists Josh Dowling, Toby Hagon, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair.
The Fiats are prepared by former touring car and rallying team manager Alan Heaphy through his Performance Parts & Engineering operation and will line up in production car class F.
The team’s first challenge will be to meet the race’s qualifying regulations, which state that each driver must lap within 130 percent of the pole time.
Next year sees the abolishment of the minimum benchmark time that had previously been in place to help the slower runners make the cut.
A specially designed Fiat Abarth Motorsport livery, which will be unveiled before Christmas, is expected to showcase the brand’s Italian heritage while also paying homage to the Abarth racing history.
The Abarth has evolved from the Fiat 500 Bambinas that first rolled off the production line to meet the post-war need for economical small vehicles.
