Sparco is the official partner of the Rally Italia Sardegna

The Italian company, the world leader in the production of racing equipment for drivers and competition vehicles - an icon of Made in Italy in the motorsport world - will be alongside ACI Sport in the 20th edition of the Rally d’Italia in Sardinia.

07.03.2023 - Sparco will be the official partner of the Rally Italia Sardegna 2023 scheduled from June 1st to 4th on the Island of the Four Moors as the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

This partnership was essential in the celebratory edition of the 20th anniversary, as both the Rally Italia Sardegna and Sparco have represented the essence and excellence of Made in Italy that revolves around the world of rallying over the years. These two success stories have often crossed their own paths on the Sardinian special stages. The Turin-based company will be the official supplier of all teamwear for the personnel and staff involved in the organization of the race, as well as the official retailer of Rally Italia Sardegna merchandising - Italian round of FIA WRC - on sale during the rally inside the Olbia Service Park.

The collaboration between Rally Italia Sardegna and Sparco is part of the important partnership of the brand from Piedmont with ACI Sport that in recent years has led to a significant exposure of the brand as the title sponsor of the main Italian rally and track championships as well as on all stages of the world championships organized and sponsored by the Federation on Italian territory. This collaboration retraces the long history of the Italian company that, for over 46 years, has dressed drivers, crews, and teams in every category of the motorsport world, with a particular predilection for the car manufacturers present on the WRC stage, which, without exception, have had Sparco as a technical partner, most recently the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (for 2023).

"Strengthening the partnership between Sparco and Rally Italia Sardegna - the President of the Automobile Club d’Italia Angelo Sticchi Damiani commented - is a great pride that unites two Italian excellences and is part of ACI Sport's intense collaboration with Sparco, which in recent years has become the title partner of our main rally and track championships, starting with the Sparco Italian Rally Championship, which has also taken its name. Bringing together these two Made in Italy sporting excellence on the occasion of the celebrations for the first twenty years of Rally Italia Sardegna will further enhance the Italian round of the World Rally Championship that we protect, promote, and support with great commitment together with the Regione Sardegna."
"We are proud to be part of the 20th edition of Rally Italia Sardegna," Niccolò Bellazzini, Sparco Brand Manager, commented. "It is a truly important moment for the history of Italian rallying and for Italian sport in general. Two decades of challenges on Sardinia's gravel have always seen us at the forefront of the fight for victory, making us particularly proud to represent Italy in the only Italian round in WRC calendar alongside the Italian Federation and the teams of which we are technical partners. We continue a journey that began last year and that will provide even greater visibility to our brand, especially in a very important year for this event”.

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"RIS Heroes": the social format that tells the story of the Rally Italia Sardegna

10 videos will showcase the most vibrant emotions of the event's first twenty years through the voices of the ten winners. The first episode, which features the historic 2004 edition and Petter Solberg's victory, was released online yesterday.

02.03.2023 - The first episode of the "RIS Heroes" format has been online since yesterday on the social media channels of Rally Italia Sardegna (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and on website rallyitaliasardegna.com. It is a mini-series of 10 short emotional videos, which will tell the first twenty years of the Italian Rally on the Island of Four Moors through the voice, memories and anecdotes of its ten winners.

"RIS Heroes" is one of the many initiatives that will be taking place as part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the Rally Italia Sardegna, the event organized by the Automobile Club d’Italia with the support of the Regione Sardegna. The 20th edition of the event will be held from June 1st to 4th in Olbia, as the sixth round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship.

The first video naturally focuses on the historic 2004 edition of the rally, when the Italian round of the World Rally Championship landed in Sardinia. Petter Solberg and Phil Mills, driving the Subaru Impreza S10 WRC 04, claimed their fifth victory of the season and their third in a row, reigniting Solberg's pursuit of Sébastien Loeb for his second consecutive championship after winning it in 2003.

The emotional story is told by "RIS Heroes" in a mix of action and memories, just over a minute long, featuring footage of the World Rally Cars racing on the Sardinian gravel and the voice of Petter Solberg remembering his triumph. "The car was fantastic," the Norwegian driver said, "we should have been champions that year" he jokes while reliving his liberating scream at the end of the SS19 Monti di Deu/2.

"RIS Heroes" will offer fans nine more videos, each distributed in the coming months until the twentieth edition of the Rally Italia Sardegna. In each episode, one of the winners will remember their victories through images and voices. The lineup of champions will include Sébastien Loeb, Marcus Grönholm, Jari-Matti Latvala, Juho Hanninen, Mikko Hirvonen, Sébastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak and Dani Sordo, all names destined to remain in the history of the event for their signatures in the Hall of Fame of the Rally Italia Sardegna."

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The famous Kitzbühel downhill on the Terranova special stage is back to the 2023 itinerary

Another magical location of the Rally Italia Sardegna is back, after nine years, in the legendary route of the 20th edition.

23.02.2023 - Not only the 50-kilometer Monte Lerno and the return of Tantariles. The first leg of Rally Italia Sardegna 2023 - Friday, 2 June - is destined to enter the annals also for the Terranova stage that will return to offer the historic Kitzbühel downhill. Another great surprise in the itinerary of the event organized by Automobile Club d’Italia with the support of the Regione Sardegna.

This section is reminiscent in its shape of the steep downhill ski slope Streif, a famous slope of the Ski World Cup from which it takes its name, and has undoubtedly been one of the most appreciated passages since the Rally Italia moved to the Island of the Four Moors.

The Kitzbühel downhill, unlike other sections such as Monte Lerno, has not always been run since the Terranova stage has been proposed in several versions over the years, and the Rally Italia Sardegna has not included it in the route since 2014. The stage in its 2023 design starts not far from the SS389 between Monti and Alà dei Sardi and arrives at the descent after a false flat section. The downhill section begins after a left turn near some scenic rocks where fans usually gather, coloring this passage like a small arena. The descent is dizzying on a terrain that combines gravel and stones and therefore is very technical.

"This is a stage of great charm," Race Director Lucio de Mori commented, "which was originally designed together with the then head of the Forest Site and his men. The path tracing work has almost always been shared with the personnel of the State Forests and Forest Site, who, given their great experience of the territory, have also proposed ideas that have often found implementation in the design of the stages. Moreover, it has always been customary to name the stages with the names of the Sites or the Forests, and Terranova is a perfect example."

The special stage will be included in the route for the twelfth time, one of the most long-lasting in the history of the Rally Italia Sardegna. In the first period, it was run continuously from 2005 to 2014, with the only exception of the 2009 edition. In 2014, it was divided into two sections - the North and the South - for a total of 32.4 km, which remains the longest version. It returned to the route in 2021 and will also confirm its tradition this year, taking place in the first part of the rally, as it has happened most of the time.

Currently, Sébastien Loeb holds five victories in this stage, and his record certainly cannot be equaled soon, as the current WRC drivers do not come close to it. Three victories have been claimed by Jari-Matti Latvala and Marcus Grönholm, two for Juho Hanninen, Sébastien Ogier, and Ott Tänak, one for Dani Sordo, Jan Kopecký, Petter Solberg, Mikko Hirvonen, Thierry Neuville, and Elfyn Evans.

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The FIA Technical Report awards Rally Italia Sardegna

This result validates the organizational efforts of the Automobile Club d'Italia. The Italian round of the WRC has been awarded as the best from a technical point of view, on par with the Secto Rally Finland.

17.02.2023 - As we approach the 20th edition of the event, scheduled for next June 1st to 4th, the Rally Italia Sardegna has received an important acknowledgement with the reception of the FIA Technical Report for the 2022 edition.

The document, which analyzes every aspect of the organization and management of the event from a technical and logistic point of view, has awarded the Italian round of the FIA World Rally Championship the highest score among the 2022 rounds, on par with the Secto Rally Finland.

This is a very important recognition for the great effort that ACI dedicates every year to shine in this crucial area and maintain a first-rate standard at the highest international level. The report, based on data collected during the race weekend by FIA technicians, evaluates every detail related to inspections, tyre and weight verifications, park fermé, technical zones, and other aspects related to logistics, management and organization.

A score is attributed to each section, which ultimately gives the overall evaluation of the event, a result that confirmed the Rally Italia Sardegna at the top of the ideal ranking. The fact that this document has been confirmed over the past few days only spurs the team to once again devote maximum commitment and dedication to the 20th edition.

The General Manager Rally of Italia Sardegna Antonio Turitto commented: "This is a really important acknowledgement for the Rally Italia Sardegna which rewards, first of all, the great work of the Italian Technical Commission group coordinated by Marco Pacini".

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Rally Italia Sardegna is ready for its 20th edition

The 20th edition of the Rally Italia Sardegna, the event organized by the Automobile Club d’Italia in partnership with Regione Sardegna, presents some new features and many returns. This year's location is going to be Olbia, while the route includes 19 special stages, three legs, and 334 competitive kilometers.

01.02.2023 - The new logo, the return to Olbia where the race has been fully concentrated again after 10 years and where the Rally Italia Sardegna adventure began in 2004, the confirmation of the special opening in Olbia-Cabu Abbas, the return to Tantariles and the long stage of Monte Lerno (49 km), that of the old stage of Tempio and the power stage of two years ago in Aglientu, are the main novelties of the 20th edition of the Rally Italia Sardegna. Four months before the start of the race, with the publication of Rally Guide 1: the first official document of the RIS 2023, the route that will host the race organized as in the past by the Automobile Club d’Italia with the partnership of the Regione Sardegna has been unveiled. The route will host the entire race in the north of the Island, as in the last six editions. The sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, scheduled from June 1st to 4th, will have an itinerary composed of 19 special stages, divided into three legs for a total of 334.65 timed kilometers, all on gravel. This year, the location is returning to Olbia, with the Service Park set up at the Molo Brin and with the press room hosted at the Archaeological Museum.

THE RACE IS FULLY BASED IN OLBIA AS 20 YEARS AGO

On Thursday, June 1st at 9:01 the Loiri Porto San Paolo shakedown (3.23 km) will kick off the event, while in the afternoon the Cabu Abbas first special stage (3.23 km) is scheduled for 6:05 pm, like last year. The competitors will spend the night at the Olbia Service Park at the Molo Brin, from where the rally will resume on Friday, June 2nd at 7:40 a.m. The first leg will consist of 6 special stages and 148.74 competitive kilometers. The drivers will compete in the repeated stages of Tantariles (10.66 km) - the same special stage that opened the rally's first edition in 2004 -, Monte Lerno (with its famous jump) in its long version that this time will measure 49.79 km, and the Terranova (13.92 km). Both at mid and end of the day the crews will head into Service Park at the Molo Brin in Olbia. On Saturday, June 3rd,

the second leg will be on the roads of Monte Acuto and Gallura, with 8 special stages (four to be repeated twice) and 136.60 kilometers of timed racing. It will start with the classic stages in Monte Acuto of Coiluna-Loelle (16.33 km) and Su Filigosu (19.49 km), then will continue in Gallura with the stages of Tula (22.39 km) and Tempio (10.09 km), with the latter following the same itinerary of 2005. Drivers will go into service at the Molo Brin at mid and end of the day. Finally, on Sunday, June 4th, four specials stages for a total of 46.08 kilometers will take place in the north of Gallura: two passes at Braniatogghiu (15.25 km) and in the Aglientu power stage (7.79 km), which will be broadcast live on TV all over the world at 12:18. Then, we will finally know the name of the winner of the 20th edition of the Italian round. The winner will dive into the water in Olbia's harbor with the whole team, as per the tradition of the Rally Italia Sardegna.

THE INITIATIVES

This year the RIS Experience initiative will be proposed again, with special privileged areas for paying spectators; an initiative that was already successfully adopted in previous editions.

Finally, thanks to the renewal of the agreement with Grimaldi Lines, there will still be special benefits on the destinations of Olbia and Porto Torres for both competitors and the spectators who will travel by ship to Sardinia to participate or attend the race. These special conditions can be enjoyed from February 1st to May 28th, 2023, by booking for departures from May 22nd to June 18th for the following sea connections: Barcellona-Porto Torres, Livorno-Olbia, Civitavecchia-Porto Torres, Civitavecchia-Olbia. In addition, competitors and teams have also a discount on the Genoa-Porto Torres route. More information will be available soon on the official website of the event.

The staff of the Rally Italia Sardegna would like to express their congratulations to Alessandro Alunni Bravi, the new Team Principal of Alfa Romeo Formula One. Alessandro was part of the organizing staff in the first two editions of the event, in 2004 and 2005.

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