Sergio Limone (born 24 July 1948 in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

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

Fiat Group Stellantis Europe S.p.A. (formerly Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. and FCA Italy S.p.A.), is the Italian subsidiary of the multinational automaker Stellantis, dedicated to the production and selling of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles ...

, 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 (also known by its Abarth project code ''SE038'') is a Group B rally car manufactured by Lancia. The Delta S4 competed in the World Rally Championship in 1985 and 1986, until Group B class was disbanded and the cars were eve ...

and

Lancia Delta The Lancia Delta (stylized Lancia Delta (letter), δ) 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#1979, Frankfurt Motor ...

for FIA

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

, 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 Frankfurt Motor Show#1997, 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show as the replacement for the Alfa Romeo 155. The 156 ...

Touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring 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 a ...

Career

Mechanical expert, he graduated in engineering at the

Polytechnic of Turin The Polytechnic University of Turin (, abbreviated as PoliTO) is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is consi ...

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 performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its Italian subsidiary. Abarth's logo is a shield with 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 The alkaline earth metals are six chemical elements in group (periodic table), group 2 of the periodic table. They are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (B ...

Group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element Group 4 is the second group of transition metals in the periodic table. It contains only the four elements titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), and rutherfordium (Rf). The group is also called the t ...

and

Group 5 Group 5 may refer to: * Group 5 element, chemical element classification * Group 5 (motorsport), FIA classification for cars in auto racing See also * G5 (disambiguation) {{Disambig ...

cars.
In 1975 he began his work as a chassis builder taking care of the

Fiat 131 The Fiat 131 is a mid-size family car manufactured and marketed by Fiat from 1974 to 1984 after its debut at the Turin Motor Show#1974, 1974 Turin Motor Show. Available as a two-door and four-door Saloon (car), saloon and 5-door station wagon, ...

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. Early career Lampredi was born in Livorno, Tuscany. He studied mechanical engineering at the Institut Technique Supérieur in Fribourg. A cl ...

, 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 two-seater, MR layout, mid-engined sports car manufactured and marketed by Lancia in Italy for model years 1975-1981, across two series. The first series (1975-1978) were marketed as the ...

and profoundly revisited to fight against the increasingly competitive

four-wheel drive A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is 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 pr ...

cars: the Rally 037, with its rear-wheel drive, will be the last

2WD Two-wheel-drive (2WD) denotes vehicles with a drivetrain that allows two wheels to be driven, and receive power and torque from the engine, simultaneously. Four-wheeled vehicles For four-wheeled vehicles (and by extension, vehicles with six, eigh ...

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 tourer, grand touring (GT) cars 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 S ...

as well as in subsequent evolutions, such as the Lancia ECV, which never raced in rallies after the abolition of Group S. With the creation of

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

, he therefore participated in the development and evolution of the

( Lancia Delta HF 4WD and

Lancia Delta HF Integrale The Lancia Delta (stylized Lancia δ) 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) d ...

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

Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...

retired from the FIA

.
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 car racing, touring cars and ''Group B'' for Grand tourer, GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (motorspor ...

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 that uses race-prepared touring 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 a ...

; 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 carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

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, Lancia ECV
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 t ...

(448 kW) from a 1759 cc

twin-turbocharged Twin-turbo is a type of turbo layout in which two turbochargers are used to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case of a Direct fuel injection, direct-injection engine). The most common layout features two identical or mir ...

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 former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . In touring car racing, Larini won the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft in 1993 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, 1993 and the I ...

. 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 former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and , and World Touring Car from to 2021. In touring car racing, Tarquini won the World Touring Car Championship in with SEAT; ...

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, 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, sti ...

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