For 10 years, this Fiat Punto ruled the ice… except that it was actually a 500 HP Lancia Delta in disguise

The Andros Trophy, held in France for nearly forty years, was undoubtedly the best-known ice racing competition in Europe, but other countries also have their own ice and snow racing championships.

In Italy, a very special car dominated ice racing for a decade: a Fiat Grande Punto driven by Ivan Carmellino. Yes, we’re encountering the Carmellino family again, since we recently mentioned the exploits of his father, Silvano, on a Delta HF Integral. You'll see that Lancia is never very far away, even when we're talking about a Fiat.

The Fiat Punto Takes on the Snow-Covered Trails

Known over the years as the Grande Punto WSC, Grande Punto Evo, or simply Punto Proto, it competed for more than a decade. Ice racing, hill climbing, rallycross: Carmellino and his team never stopped modifying it. It’s worth noting that the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 enjoyed a truly successful official rally career, winning two European Rally Championship titles and two Italian Rally Championship titles in the 2000s.

But let’s get back to this «out-of-the-ordinary» Punto. Originally from Scopa, in Piedmont, Ivan Carmellino quickly specialized in ice racing, getting his start in this category in the late 2000s. He started out with a two-wheel-drive Lancia Delta before switching to a Delta HF Integrale modified for winter racing. The choice seems almost natural. The Lancia’s all-wheel drive and turbocharged engine provide an excellent foundation for the snow- and ice-covered tracks of northern Italy.

But another car would soon take on a much more significant role in his career: a radically modified Fiat Grande Punto. In 2012, Carmellino won his first ICE CUP championship in the top category with this «Grande Punto WSC»—the WSC designation referring to these heavily modified cars, which bore little resemblance to the production models despite retaining their appearance.

A Fiat Punto that isn't really one

The exact specifications of the prototype have long been difficult to determine. An Italian industry source provided some particularly interesting information in 2021. Under the hood is actually a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine derived from the Lancia Delta HF Integrale, producing more than 500 HP according to this source. The engine is paired with all-wheel drive and a six-speed sequential transmission, both of which also come from the HF 4WD. So there you have it: the Fiat Punto provides the body, but the guts come from the queen of rallying from the ’80s and ’90s. The Delta is still around!

In the mid-2010s, the Grande Punto WSC became one of the undisputed leaders of the Ice Series. The 2014 season provided a spectacular demonstration of this. Right from the season opener at the Ice Rosa Ring, Carmellino set the fastest time in each of the three heats and won by more than twelve seconds over a Mitsubishi Lancer WSC. In 2016, the New Driver’s Team—the team fielding the car—announced its success in the Ice Series with 960 points, describing its dominance as nearly total for the season.

All-terrain

In 2014, the Punto WSC expanded its racing activities, and modifications were made to enable it to compete on asphalt in hillclimb races.

The following year, his name did indeed appear in the official results of the Pieve Santo Stefano–Passo dello Spino hill climb, a round of the Italian Hill Climb Championship. Carmellino drove a «Fiat Punto Proto» there, entered in the E1 3000+ modified silhouette class. He posted times of 3’17″69 and then 3’15″97, finishing 42nd in the overall standings.

Ivan also races the Punto in rallycross. In 2016, he competed in the Italian Supercar Championship and arrived at the Maggiora final leading the championship. He continued the experience and became the Italian champion in 2017. In an interview published the following year, he explained that after years spent racing on ice, he was looking for a new discipline and had found in rallycross the new competitors and the new thrills he was seeking. By that point, he already had seven Italian titles on snow and ice to his name.

A few more achievements, despite a younger field of competitors

After its foray into rallycross, the car is back on the ice. For 2018, Carmellino announces the return of a car that has been thoroughly redesigned in terms of mechanics, weight distribution, and power. The development process has not been without its challenges, but the potential is there.

In 2021, the Punto Proto faced new, more modern competition but still held its own, ultimately finishing second behind Andrea Bormolini’s Skoda Fabia in the season opener. In the championship finale, despite finishing only third in the standings, he turned the tables and clinched the Italian title once again. It was his seventh title, even though he had begun driving other cars. By 2023, Carmellino had a much more modern machine at his disposal—a Skoda Fabia R5—but the Punto still made a few appearances and secured a handful of podium finishes. It was still seen in 2024, driven by his father Silvano. However, retirement has undoubtedly come for this venerable car.