All the big guns of the World Rally Championship will be present in the sixth round of the season

Alghero, May 8th 2024 -  There are a total of 87 entries (last year there were 74) for the 21st edition of the Rally Italia Sardegna, the sixth round of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship scheduled from May 31st to June 2nd, also valid for WRC2, WRC3, and the Junior World Championship. This 21st edition of the rally, the event organized by the Automobile Club d'Italia with the support of the Region of Sardinia, will see a significant number of entered crews, which is a very important signal confirming the results achieved in recent years. It also demonstrates how much the choice to hold this year's edition with a more compact format has been appreciated by the drivers. This choice was made at the request of the FIA and WRC Promoter based on a waiver obtained by Sardinia to run and test a more concentrated event format, which could become an option for other organizers in the near future, based on the new FIA regulations being introduced.

A total of 32 different nationalities will be represented (Italy, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Estonia, Japan, Great Britain, Monaco, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Russia, Bolivia, Argentina, Peru, Czech Republic, Poland, Paraguay, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Turkey, Croatia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Oman, Romania and Greece), a new record for the event confirming its international nature and demonstrating how the World Rally Championship is an important stage that promotes Sardinia by spreading its image worldwide. There will be a significant representation of 21 Italian crews (8 of which are from Sardinia), followed by 9 French entries, 5 Spanish, and 4 Estonians, with the others following suit.

THE PROTAGONISTS. Two world champions, Sébastien Ogier and Ott Tänak, will be at the start of the rally along with all the other main drivers participating in the 2024 World Championship. There will be 8 hybrid Rally 1 cars in the event, which will be entrusted to the three official Toyota drivers (Ogier, Evans and Katsuta), the three Hyundai drivers (Neuville, Tänak, and Sordo), and the two Ford MSport drivers (Fourmaux and Munster). In WRC2, there are a total of 42 entries, including the presence of Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin in a Citroen C3 Rally 2, Oliver Solberg, Pierre Louis Loubet, and Kajetan Kajetanowicz in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, Teemu Suninen, Nicolas Ciamin, and Emil Lindholm in a Hyundai i20 Rally 2, and Sami Pajari, Georg Linnamae, Roope Korhonen, and Jans Solans in a Toyota Yaris Rally 2. Also noteworthy are Pepe López (Ford Fiesta Rally 2) and Martin Prokop (Skoda), in his 19th participation in the Sardinian event. Additionally, former champion Mauro Miele will compete against the German Armin Kremer (both in Skoda Fabia Rally2) in the WRC 2 Masters Cup. ACI Team Italia driver Roberto Daprà and Donetto, Hoelbling, Brazzoli Tiramani, Covi and Pozzo, navigated by Sardinian Pier Paolo Cottu (all in Skoda), are also entered in WRC 2. There are also 18 drivers in the Junior World Championship in the MSport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally 3, led by the main protagonists of this season, namely the Estonian Jurgenson, Swedish Johansson, and Australian Gill. Finally, there are a total of 8 Sardinian crews in the race, including Francesco Marrone, the only driver to have participated in all 21 editions of the race, in a Peugeot 208 T16 navigated by Francesco Fresu. Giuseppe Dettori will contest his 18th participation, navigated by Carlo Pisano in a Skoda Fabia, Mura-Demontis (Skoda Fabia), Liceri-Mendola (Ford Fiesta R3), Biancu-Mazzone (Renault Clio R3) and finally Pusceddu V. Cottu, Schirru Salis and Mara-Tendas (both in Peugeot 208 R4)

THE RALLY. The 2024 edition of the Rally Italia Sardegna, the sixth round of the World Rally Championship, is scheduled from May 31st to June 2nd with the event base in Alghero. The rally consists of three legs and includes a total of 16 special stages covering a distance of 266.12 kilometers in total.