Bernd Casier is to contest his home IRC event for the factory Abarth team in place of Anton Alen, according to Belgian website  autonews-magazine.com.

Casier will partner Giandomenico Basso in the Abarth Grande Punto S2000 on the asphalt Ypres Rally. Alen has struggled recently for Abarth on recent events and he has yet to fully adapt to tarmac.

Commenting on the Abarth deal, Casier said:

 This is great news for us obviously. We have had long negotiations with Proton and Volkswagen. The offers were very similar, but the proposed Abarth deal has finally prevailed and I can compete in a real factory car. The agreement for the time being is only for Ypres. I know there are many other tests on asphalt in the IRC in the future and I hope Abarth might suggest something after the Belgian IRC event... 

Casier was one of the stars of last year's Ypres Rally guiding an RGRS VW Polo S2000 to fourth overall after nearly destroying the car in an accident on the shakedown stage.

Casier's name appears on the Ypres Rally provisional entry list in the Abarth as does Alex Bengue who is entered in the MSD Opel Corsa S2000.

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Scott Coursey is the editor-in-chief of RallyBuzz.com and can be found on Twitter or on Facebook