Sergio Limone (born 24 July 1948 in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

) is an Italian automobile engineer. He has carried out numerous sports car projects for the

Fiat Group Stellantis Italy, formerly known as Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. from 2007 to 2014 and FCA Italy S.p.A. from 2014 to 2021, is the Italian subsidiary of the multinational automaker Stellantis, dedicated to the production and selling of passenger ...

, including the

Lancia Rally 037 The Lancia Rally (''Tipo 151'', also known as the Lancia Rally 037, Lancia 037 or Lancia-Abarth #037 from its Abarth project code ''SE037'') was a mid-engine sports car and rally car built by Lancia in the early 1980s to compete in the FIA Group ...

Lancia Delta S4 The Lancia Delta S4 is a Group B rally car manufactured by the Italian car company Lancia. The Delta S4 competed in the World Rally Championship in 1985 and 1986, until Group B class was disbanded and the cars were eventually banned from competit ...

and

Lancia Delta The Lancia Delta is a small family car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Lancia in three generations. The first generation (1979-1994) debuted at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show, the second generation (1993-1999) debuted at the 1993 Genev ...

for

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

, and the

Alfa Romeo 155 The Alfa Romeo 155 (Type 167) is a compact executive car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo between 1992 and 1998. It was unveiled in January 1992 at Barcelona, with the first public launch in March 1992, at the Geneva Motor S ...

and

Alfa Romeo 156 The Alfa Romeo 156 (Type 932) is a compact executive car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo. It was introduced at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show as the replacement for the Alfa Romeo 155. The 156 received a positive recep ...

Touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mo ...

Career

Mechanical expert, he graduated in engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin with a thesis on a Formula Monza car, a never finished car with its coachwork; in 1972 he joined

Abarth Abarth & C. S.p.A. () is an Italian racing and road car maker and Car tuning, performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its FCA Italy, Italian subsidiary. Its logo is a ...

, a brand that had just entered the orbit of the

, working until 1975 on engines and applications relating to

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing), an FIA classification for cars in ...

Group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element, chemical element classification *Group 4 (racing), classification for cars in auto racing and rallying * G4S, formerly Group 4 Securicor, a prominent British security company *IB Group 4 subjects The Group 4 ...

and

Group 5 Group 5 may refer to: *Group 5 element, chemical element classification *Group 5 (racing) Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations def ...

cars.
In 1975 he began his work as a chassis builder taking care of the Fiat 131 and other prototypes, alongside Mario Colucci, who was then responsible for the car chassis; in collaboration with Giorgio Pianta also conducts tests on various rally cars.
He worked on the Fiat 131 Abarth Rally, set by Colucci as regards the chassis, taking it to the end of his career, which arrived in 1979.
At the end of 1978, following a clash with the engineer

Aurelio Lampredi Aurelio Lampredi (16 June 1917 – 1 June 1989) was an Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer. Born in Livorno, he began his career before World War II at Piaggio, moved to Isotta Fraschini, and then joined Reggiane. This time he des ...

, Colucci resigned so that Limone was promoted to head of vehicle design and testing, in relation to the experience department. In those months Limone took care of the development of the

car for the

, choosing as the winning idea the

, an evolution of the

Lancia Montecarlo The Lancia Montecarlo (Type 137) is a Pininfarina-designed mid-engined sports car produced by Lancia in Italy from 1975 to 1981. Cars from the first series, which were produced from 1975 to 1978, were known as Lancia Beta Montecarlos and those ...

and profoundly revisited to fight against the increasingly competitive

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

cars: the Rally 037, with its rear-wheel drive, will be the last 2WD car to win the

in 1983.
He then participated in the development of the

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

as well as in subsequent evolutions, such as the

Lancia ECV The Lancia ECV (standing for ''Experimental Composite Vehicle'') was a prototype Group S rally car developed by the Italian manufacturer Lancia to replace the Lancia Delta S4 in World Rally Championship competition for the 1988 season. However, Gro ...

, which never raced in rallies after the abolition of

Group S Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

. With the creation of

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

, he therefore participated in the development and evolution of the

(

Lancia Delta HF 4WD The Lancia Delta is a small family car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Lancia in three generations. The first generation (1979-1994) debuted at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show, the second generation (1993-1999) debuted at the 1993 Gene ...

and

Lancia Delta HF Integrale The Lancia Delta is a small family car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Lancia in three generations. The first generation (1979-1994) debuted at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show, the second generation (1993-1999) debuted at the 1993 Genev ...

) for subsequent and multi-victorious participations in rallies until 1991, when

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

retired from the

.
In the meantime, he takes part in the development of a

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

car, the Alfa Romeo Sport Prototipo, derived from the

Lancia LC2 The Lancia LC2 (sometimes referred to as the Lancia-Ferrari) was a series of racing cars built by Italian automobile manufacturer Lancia and powered by engines built by their sister company Ferrari. They were part of Lancia's official factory-bac ...

and updated with all its contents to make it a winner, which, however, will never race on the track due to the management decisions of the

managers.
He moved with the entire Lancia rally development team to

Alfa Corse Alfa Corse is Alfa Romeo's factory racing team. Throughout the years, Alfa Corse has competed in various forms of motorsport, from Grand Prix motor racing to touring car racing. Alfa Corse was officially formed in the beginning of 1938, after th ...

, in 1991 Limone began his first development for a new Alfa Romeo car for

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

; specifically we are talking about a sedan car with the mechanics of the

and the

coachwork in the racing version. In addition to the cars developed for track racing, he developed the Alfa Romeo 155 GTA Stradale, produced in a single model with the aim of stimulating the interest of the

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

management in series production but this car will never have a productive following.
Finally, he participated in the development of the racing version of the

, designed for the ETCC and WTCC championships of the early 2000s.

File:LanciaRally037.jpg,

File:Rétromobile 2017 - Lancia Delta S4 - circa 1986 - 001.jpg,

File:Lancia Delta ECV at Legendy 2014.JPG,

The car originally produced over 600

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

(448 kW) from a 1759 cc

twin-turbocharged Twin-turbo (not to be confused with a twincharger setup, which is a combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger) refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case ...

engine. File:Lancia Delta Integrale HF 16V Rally Moritz Costa Brava 2018.jpg,

is the manufacturer with the most wins in the WRC: 11 world Championship for Manufacturers, with 6 consecutives. File:Alfa Romeo 155 Alfa Corse in Arese 20070608.jpg, Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI DTM of 1993 champion

Nicola Larini Nicola Larini (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 6 September 1987. He finished second in the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on a substitute outing for Ferrari, but only ...

. The 155 holds the all-time record of 38 victories in DTM. File:Alfa Romeo SE 048.jpg, Alfa Romeo Sport Prototipo File:155 GTA STRADALE.jpg, Alfa Romeo 155 GTA Stradale File:Gabriele Tarquini - Alfa Romeo 156 GTA (40453437380).jpg, Alfa Romeo 156 GTA Super 2000,

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He ...

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

2003 ETCC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Limone, Sergio 1948 births Living people Abarth people Lancia people Alfa Romeo people 20th-century Italian engineers Automotive engineers from Turin Italian motorsport people 21st-century Italian engineers