Technical Fiat 500 Twinair Clutch release bearing

[TwinairByAbarth]

I've got a whirring noise present in 1st, 2nd and reverse when the clutch is being depressed and is under load. It is not present when moving in any gears. Only when manoeuvring in 1st and reverse or when slowing down into second quickly to go around a corner. It is not noticeable all the time, gets louder with the load exerted such as when setting off on a hill.

I've seen threads on other sites suggest this is the clutch release bearing. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and why it is only noticeable in 1st, 2nd and reverse?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lounge lizard]

One thing I would say from experience, don't ignore it. On my wife's TA, I took it for a spin on the Sunday and detected a slight bearing noise between changes. On Monday morning the bearing failed (basically exploded) on her way to work (luckily at low speed) and took out the release fork which it. That had to come from Fiat and took 2 weeks to come. That was back before Xmas.
There is at least one thread on here about TA's groaning when pulling away and when reversing. Ours does, thought it would go with new clutch. It seems many do it even at low mileage. Ours is on 80k ish.