AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -

In honor of the first “Fiat 500 Abarth Driving Experience" — a chance for a new owner to attend a day of driving training with their new vehicle — Fiat has selected five Facebook fans to participate at a special inauguration drive event taking place in Las Vegas on Thursday titled “Drive for the Fans.”

The five Facebook fans chosen will be teaming up with five automotive bloggers, five lifestyle bloggers and five professional drivers in a series of driving challenges to commemorate the launch of the “Fiat 500 Arbarth Driving Experience.”

Highlighting the Arbarth Driving Experience in more detail, officials noted that“included in the price of each 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth is the opportunity for new owners to attend one of the exclusive driving programs held around the country at no additional charge."

They added: “The Abarth Driving Experience is an entire day of full-throttle training, guided by professional instructors from the Richard Petty Driving Experience, to ensure fun and top-level instruction in a safe and structured setting.”

Six Abarth Driving Experience events are confirmed this year across the country. Future dates and locations will be determined by customer need, the company noted.

"Every Fiat 500 Abarth owner will have the opportunity to attend an ‘Abarth Driving Experience’ at six locations across the country throughout the year," said Tim Kuniskis, head of the Fiat Brand for North America at Chrysler Group.

"We wanted to provide our loyal Facebook fans with a similar opportunity so they can enjoy first-hand the ‘small but wicked’ spirit of our Fiat 500 Abarth while also enhancing their driving skills,” he added.

And as for the contect, the teams will compete for a variety of trips and prizes on behalf of other Fiat Facebook fans online, officials shared.

The company’s Facebook fans can enter the running by visiting www.Facebook.com/FiatUSA and click on the "Drive for the Fans" tab.

On top of being able to select their favorite team for the driving challenges, they can also enter for a chance to win a drive experience for themselves in one of six Fiat Abarth Driving Experience locations across the country.

Furthermore, the "Drive for the Fans" tab also will allow contestants to track the score for each team, learn more about track modules and view on-site video and photo coverage of the track experience, officials noted.

The Driving Challenges

The company explained that each team in the social media contest will compete in a four-part driving challenge, as follows:

Driving Dynamics: This challents will teach teams more about the racing line, braking points and how to pick up the Abarth’s 160 horsepower.

Autocross: This segment will be a race against the clock using electronic timing (accurate to 1/1,000th of a second) to determine the fastest driver, officials noted.

Head-to-Head: Next, two vehicles will go head-to-head as each driver works to “tame the track, master the machine and beat their opponent.”

Performance: Lastly, the contest will finish up with a  time-trial competition where the fastest driver wins.

The Teams 

Professional drivers include Maryeve Dufault, Dominik Farnbacher, Samuel Hubinette, Jonathan Start and Kuno Wittmer, whose experience and accolades range from NASCAR events to the competitive world of European motorsports.

The automotive bloggers participating in the event include Anthony Guerra, creator of www.Carsxhype.com; Bret Dodson, blogger for www.startinggrid.org; Hannah Ross, blogger for www.skiddmark.com; and Tommy Johnson, founder and executive editor of www.Zeroto60times.com.

Moving on to highlight the lifestyle bloggers, participants include Eric Yang, blogger for www.gearpatrol.com; Ludget Delcy, creator of www.dapperlou.com; Matt Williams, editor of www.heavy.com; Sujeet Pate, editor-in-chief of www.guysgab.com; and Chris Aung-Thwin, editor at www.AskMen.com 

Lastly, the company provided the names of the lucky five Facebook fans, as well as commentary on their experience with Fiat vehicles:

Mark Bittoni – “Fiat fan who has owned a fair share of Fiat vehicles and believes the Fiat 500 is an extension of his lifestyle and gets him one step closer to La Dolce Vita.”

Margaret Byden – “California resident who is a Fiat enthusiast and has been following the development of Fiat 500 and its introduction to the U.S. for the last two years.”

Tiffany Lee – “Racing fan who has demonstrated a passion for driving and now is ready to show the world what a Fiat 500 Abarth can really do.”

Scott Leggit – “Fiat fan from Colorado who is active on Fiat USA Facebook page and learned to drive in a Fiat 124 sedan.”

Jeff Seelig – “Racing enthusiast with a sense of adventure, held an SCCA racing license and resides in California.”