Sixty entries for Rally Italia Sardegna

This year’s edition features interesting numbers, considering also that the race is not valid for the World Junior Championship nor for the DMack Trophy, that would have increased the number of cars by about 30 units.

A total of 25 different countries will be represented in the rally (Italy, France, Finland, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Belgium, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Poland, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Ukraine, Peru, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Germany, Portugal, Andorra and Australia), which confirms the international scent of the event and the fact that this rally is a crucial stage to disseminate and promote Sardinia’s image all around the world. The presence of Italian drivers will be quite solid, with 17 (5 of which from Sardinia) racers present and they will be followed with decreasing figures by 4 French and Arabian drivers, the latter coming from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and then all the other nationalities.

A total of 14 Wrc cars will be at the start; 3 Volkswagen Polo Wrc, 3 Citroen Ds3 Wrc, 3 Hyundai i20 Wrc and 6 Ford Fiesta Wrc), 27 drivers will take part in the sixth round of the Wrc 2 championship, 5 of which will also compete for the Production Cup, while 4 drivers will challenge each other in Wrc 3.

THE PROTAGONISTS

All the main world rally championship drivers will be present at the rally, starting from the 3 works Volkswagen Polo R Wrc driven by the championship leader and two-times world champion Sébastien Ogier, by Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen. The three works Citroen Ds3 Wrc will be driven by the recent winner of the Rally of Argentina Kris Meeke, Mads Ostberg and Khalid Al Qassimi, while the 3 works Hyundai i20 Wrc will have Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon behind the wheel. The two Ford Fiesta Wrc of MSport will be driven by Elfyn Evans and Ott Tanak, the Fiesta Wrc of RKT Team by Robert Kubica, that of Team Jipo Car by Martin Prokop and that of Fuckmatié Team by the Italian Lorenzo Bertelli.
In Wrc 2 the 3 works Skoda Fabia R5 will be driven by the Finn Esapekka Lappi, by the German Armin Kremer and by the Czech Jan Kopecky, as the Ford Fiesta Rrc will be operated by Uckrein’s Yurii Protasov and by Qatar’s drivers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. The 3 Citroen Ds3 R5 will have the French Lefebvre and Giordano and the Estonian Kruuda behind the wheel, while the several-times Italian Champion Paolo Andreucci will celebrate his 50th birthday on Peugeot 208 T16. The reigning champion from Rome Max Rendina and the championship leader Simone Tempestini will be present in Production Cup, as the Tuscan driver Gianluca Linari, Enrico Brazzoli and Andorra’s Joian Carchat.
Umberto Scandola (Skoda Fabia S2000) will also be present and 3 out of the 4 Wrc 3 drivers will be Italian, including Aci Team Italia’s Fabio Andolfi and Giuseppe Testa (Peugeot 208 R2), and Andrea Crugnola (Reanult Clio RS). Five drivers from Sardinia will also be competing (Paolo Liceri, Francesco Marrone, Giovanni Bitti, Raffaele Donadio and Maurizio Pusceddu).

THE RACE

Edition 2015 of the Rally Italia Sardegna is scheduled for 11 – 14 June on an itinerary comprising 402 timed kms split in 23 stages. Alghero will house again the headquarters of the rally, service park and press offices. The rally will start with the shakedown on Thursday 11 June in Putifigari at local 7.30hrs. The Super Special Stage of 2,50Km will take place at Cagliari’s harbour in the evening of the 11th June, enjoying live coveage on TV at 19.30hrs. Gravel roads of Oristano around the Mount Acuto, and the three legs of the race around Sassari and Nurra will keep drivers busy on 12, 13 and 14 June as the rally will end on the14th in Alghero’s harbour with the prize ceremony.