Sara Price Named Winner Of Fiat Brand And Hoonigan Search For Female Racer To Pilot Fiat 124 Spider Abarth Rally Car

July 27, 2017 by Fiat

•After the months-long competition, Price named as winner, giving her opportunity to compete at Mt. Washington, the nation's oldest hillclimb event, established in 1904 in Gorham, New Hampshire

•Video of Price competing at the prestigious Mt. Washington Hillclimb – a perfect venue given the hill climb heritage of the Abarth – can be viewed here

•FIAT brand and Hoonigan joined together to support women in auto racing and to find the next great female racer

July 27, 2017 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - The FIAT Brand and Hoonigan announced driver Sara Price as the winner of its search for the next great female driver to race the Fiat 124 Spider Abarth rally car. As her prize, Price competed in the Mt. Washington Hillclimb, the nation's oldest hillclimb event, which is 7.4 miles long and features 4,500 feet of elevation gain. Price, whose background is off-road/motocross, hails from Canyon Lake, California. Price was chosen from six finalists who competed over three months to earn the title of 'Next Female Hoonigan.'

Video featuring Price competing at the Mt. Washington Hillclimb can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ftRUY1M-yw

With over 150 entries, which was whittled down to six accomplished female drivers named as finalists, Price won the title of 'Next Female Hoonigan' and was selected to race the Fiat 124 Spider Abarth rally car. Finalists included Michelle Abbate (Las Vegas, Nevada), Collete Davis (San Francisco, California), Sally McNulty (Phoenix, Arizona), Rathyna Gomer (Colton, California) and Suzanne Valdivia (Modesto, California). The road trip and competitions at Bondurant can be viewed here.

Viewers can tune into Hoonigan and FIAT social and digital channels to watch the entire competition unfold.

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.

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. Competition continued in the rally car at the Gridlife Music & Motorspots festival at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, Michigan, where Price ultimately prevailed.

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?

1.It's a portmanteau (Look it up, yo!): the combination of 'hooligan' and 'hoon,' the Australian term for screwing about in cars.

2.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.

About Bob Bondurant School of High Performance

The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance, which is located in Phoenix, Arizona, is the only purpose-built driver training facility for performance enthusiasts and is the largest driver training of its kind in North America. At the heart of the 60-acre facility is a 1.6-mile, 15-turn multi-configuration track that was designed by Bob Bondurant. The school maintains over 200 race-prepared vehicles, sedans, SUVs and open wheel cars. For more information, visit www.Bondurant.com or call (800) 842-7223.

About FIAT Brand

The FIAT brand stands for discovery through passionate self-expression. That philosophy is embodied by the iconic Fiat 500 or Cinquecento – a small car that lives big. Italian at heart and rooted in a rich heritage, the 500 is sold in more than 100 countries and is synonymous with modern, simple design blending form, function, technology and a pride of ownership that is genuine.

In North America, the Fiat 500 was introduced in March 2011 and was soon followed by the Fiat 500c (Cabrio), the high-performance Fiat 500 Abarth and Abarth Cabrio, the fully electric Fiat 500e, the five-passenger Fiat 500L and the all-wheel-drive 500X crossover. The FIAT brand continues to expand with the introduction of the Fiat 124 Spider, a revival of the iconic roadster that combines Italian style, performance and engaging driving dynamics.

Photo credit: Fiat
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