With a participation that includes innovation, technology, competition, sporting spirit and competition, all at once, Magneti Marelli showcases two of its leading business lines at the 36th edition of the Bologna Motor Show: advanced automotive lighting with its Automotive Lighting Division, and the commitment as a rally team by Magneti Marelli Checkstar, the brand marketed by the company’s Aftermarket Division in the service and repair segment.
Magneti Marelli’s participation in this event, which is scheduled to run in Bologna until December 11th, consequently translates into two separate display areas, in pavilion 25 (advanced lighting technologies in Innovation Hall) and pavilion 36 (with a few legendary rally cars displayed by Magneti Marelli Checkstar in partnership with “Rally Legend”), as well as into a workshop to be held on Friday December 2nd at the Agorà in Innovation Hall (pavilion 25), where new technologies and innovations developed by Automotive Lighting will be considered from the standpoint of aspects such as safety, reduced fuel consumption and CO2, and design; lastly, into the competing in the “Memorial Bettega” and “Legend Bettega with the “global dream- team” consisting of Markku Alen, Miki Biasion and Luca Pedersoli, sponsored by Magneti Marelli Checkstar.
The stands
Magneti Marelli will, first of all, set up its own stand in "Innovation Hall powered by Autostrade per l’Italia” (pavilion 25), in other words the Motor Show initiative dedicated to the most cutting-edge technologies concerning environment, safety, infomobility, infotainment and infrastructures, developed in cooperation with Italy’s ANFIA - Associazione Nazionale Filiera Industria Automobilistica (National Association of the Automotive Industry Production Chain).
Within the scope of these topics, Magneti Marelli dedicates its own stand to a crucial element for vehicle mobility and driver safety such as lighting, with special focus on technologies of excellence developed by Automotive Lighting.
The heart of the stand consists of a darkroom equipped with a demo that will allow visitors, in a night-time road setting, to become familiar with the various lighting technologies – halogen, xenon and LED – and with the latest solutions for intelligent and adaptive lighting.
In addition to displaying reference products for rear and front headlamps, the key messages that characterize Magneti Marelli’s stand are also aimed at the aftermarket and at telematic technologies for sustainable mobility, as these technologies will have an increasingly important role in connecting automobiles, passengers and infrastructures, and in providing features and services aimed at safety, intelligent and environmentally-friendly use of the vehicle, infomobility and service.
Closely related to the stand theme, and again as part of the events held in Innovation Hall, on Friday, December 2nd Magneti Marelli will also be holding a press workshop entitled “Lighting in the automobile lifecycle: advanced technology, performances, safety. Salient aspects associated with responsibility and final customer’s protection” at the Agorà in Innovation Hall, Pavilion 25 (Time: 11:00 am -12:30 pm).
Through the process of innovation and by illustrating the various technologies (halogen, xenon, LED, contribution from electronics, adaptive features and future lighting paths), this workshop will take a close look at the role of lighting for automobiles as a crucial safety element for the life of individuals inside and outside the automobile, which today also have a significant impact on the reduction of fuel consumption and emissions and on vehicle design. Additional topics of interests are the lighting aspects associated with the spare parts market, in connection with product quality and compliance with basic technical requirements for vehicle safety.
In the area of activities aimed at supporting the world of rallies, on the other hand, Magneti Marelli Checkstar will be setting up a stand together with “Rally Legend”, the organization that has been a partner of Magneti Marelli Checkstar for two years now.
A few special cars will be on display at the stand:
- The Peugeot 206 WRC (4/99 frame, the world’s oldest 206 WRC) with which Pedersoli-Maggioni crew dominated the Legend 2011 competitions;
- The Lancia Delta ECV (the only one of its kind in the world), the group B of 1987 restored by Beppe Volta (http://www.voltaracing.com/home.htm), a car that at the time represented the top of Lancia’s technical research, but never competed due to the banning of B groups;
- The Lancia Delta Evoluzione A group, winner of several world rally championships in the 1980s, that will complete in the Legend Bettega on December 9th bearing the Magneti Marelli colours.
Participation in the Memorial Bettega and Legend Bettega
Lastly, the Magneti Marelli Checkstar team will find its ideal role at the Motorshow by participating and battling it out in the two “main” rally events at the Motorsport Arena:
December 8th - Legend Bettega. Two great champions of the past, Markku Alen, the Finnish title holder who for years competed wearing the Fiat/Lancia colours in the rally world championships, and Miki Biasion, winner of 2 world championships behind the wheel of a Lancia Delta, will be competing with the Magneti Marelli Checkstar colours in the Legend Bettega, driving a Toyota Celica and a Lancia Delta Evoluzione, respectively.
December 10th/11th- Memorial Bettega. Luca Pedersoli, standard-bearer of the Magneti Marelli Checkstar Team as well as winner of the 2011 Asphalt Rally Trophy, will be competing with the Citroen DS3 WRC of the Citroen Racing tream.
