No idea on the MTA, but I'm guessing it must be an improved version of the Alfa Selespeed. That was an unreliable pile of poop unsurprisingly, but the 'box it was developed from was rather spectacular...



So if it's anything like it's illustrious forebear it'll be great on the track (can it be fitted with flappy paddles?)...

Alfa GTA Selespeed was near-identical to the standard one, just slightly updated and better ecu

I think some of the Abarth MTAs (maybe all?) came with flappy paddles, and judging by my experience with a well tuned auto Subaru on the twisty roads round where I live, there's no reason you shouldn't be turning in faster lap times than with a manual box (assuming the MTA keeps up and is reliable) since you won't have that 'think-push clutch-change gear-release clutch' combo to do so you might knock a few tenths off your manual 'box lap times, all other things being equal.