MARCH 12, 2003

Autodelta returns

Autodelta was a famous name in racing throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The Alfa Romeo racing department was successful at many levels and in 1979 entered F1 with a factory Alfa Romeo team. This lasted until 1985 when Alfa Romeo was taken over by Fiat and withdrew from F1 and renamed the company's racing division Alfa Corse.

Eighteen years later Autodelta is back. The Nordauto team, which was founded in 1991 by Mauro and Monica Sipsz, competed in various Italian Touring Car championships in the 1990s with much success - notably with Fabrizio Giovanardi - culinating in victory in the European Touring Car series in 2001 and 2002. It has now changed its name to Autodelta and will run three Alfa Romeo 156 GTA for former F1 drivers Nicola Larini and Gabriele Tarquini and Roberto Colciago. Fiat is also planning to produce a range of high performance versions of its cars under the Autodelta brand.