The Dunlop Abarth Series was launched in 2002 and has grown from strength to strength into a Championship that holds its own amongst the best in Irish Motorport today.

The Abarth was developed in 2001 in conjunction with Murray Motorsport, Steve Griffin Motorsport and AMF Motorsport, and from humble beginnings it has evolved into the competition car as we know it today. It was based on a Punto HGT Model and moulded into a racing car by stripping out the interior, adding a few fundamental competition extras and tuning the standard 1800cc 16V HGT engine to around 170 bhp.

The series attracts a diverse range of participants. This includes those from other motorsport disciplines who favour track racing as being less restrictive in terms of time and budget than many of the alternatives. 

The competition this year will be varied with races at Mondello Park on both the national and international tracks. There will also be forays into Northern Ireland at Bishopscourt in May (a new track on the racing calendar which has not been used for racing for over thirty years) and at Kirkistown in July and also to Anglesea in Wales in June. There are also non championship rounds in the Phoenix Park in August. The championship kicks off in Mondello on the weekend of the 14th and 15th April and will finish with a flourish on the 15th and 16th September at the Leinster Trophy meeting on the international circuit at Mondello.