The FIA European Rally Championship is set for a big celebration next week (4-6 June) when SATA Rallye Açores takes place for the 50th time. Counting as round four of the 2015 ERC season, the popular island event has attracted a 49-car entry, while a massive 50,000 Euro privateer prize fund is up for grabs.
Portuguese drivers will turn out in force to try to ensure a home victory. But they’ll face stiff competition from an equally strong visiting ERC contingent And it will be a spectacular battle, with 18 R5 and Super 2000 cars and 14 ERC Junior Championship contenders on the entry list and all drivers vying for ERC Gravel Masters points.
Based on the archipelago’s largest island of São Miguel in the mid-Atlantic, this year’s SATA Rallye Açores features 17 special stages covering 216.61 kilometres (88 per cent gravel and 12 per cent asphalt) and will include the famous signature Sete Cidades stage, part of which runs around the rim of an extinct volcano.
A favourite event for many of the drivers, owning to the island’s breathtaking scenery and its challenging stages, this year’s rally begins with the traditional City Show demonstration event in Ponta Delgada on Wednesday evening before the competitive action begins with the 3.22-kilometre Qualifying Stage for ERC registered drivers on Thursday. The fastest 15 will then select the running order for Leg One, which begins with three stages (totalling 23.56kms) later the same day. Leg One continues the following day, with eight stages – four run in the morning and repeated in the afternoon.
This includes the Sete Cidades test, which, at 28.92kms, is the longest of the event. After another 92.16kms, Leg One comes to an end on Friday evening.
Leg Two begins at 08h30 on Saturday, with a further six stages (totalling 100.89kms). This includes the 21.38km Tronqueira stages, which is lined with the island’s famous hydrangea bushes, making it one of the most beautiful stages in the ERC. The finish will take place at Praça Gonçalo Velho in Ponta Delgada from 19h00.
Breen takes slender ERC lead to Azores
Craig Breen takes a slender three point FIA European Rally Championship lead into SATA Rallye Açores, with the Peugeot Rally Academy 208 T16 driver on top form after his dream victory on the previous round, the Discover Northern Ireland Circuit of Ireland Rally. Hot on the Irishman’s heels is Kajetan Kajetanowicz, who will drive a brand new LOTOS Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5. After making a superb four-wheel drive ERC debut in Northern Ireland, Charles Martin takes to the gravel for the first time in his Peugeot Rally Academy 208 T16. Robert Consani will compete in his stunning Citroën DS3 R5, while ERC regular Giacomo Costenaro appears in his Peugeot 207 S2000. Antonín Tlusťák,
Tomáš Kurka and Jaroslav Orsák all drive ŠKODA Fabia S2000s, while Jonathan Hirschi returns to the fray in his 208 T16. Jean-Michel Raoux is excited by the prospect of the “completely mad” Sete Cidades stage. The French gravel expert scored his best ERC result of his career in the Azores last year, finishing third in a 207 S2000, and returns in a H-Racing Fiesta R5. Irish brothers Josh and Sam Moffett, who finished third and fourth respectively on the Circuit of Ireland, will drive Fiesta RRCs on their first appearance on the event.