Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Kris Meeke says the decision of the Automobile Club de Monaco to continue its relationship with the IRC for a third season is "great news" for the Eurosport Events-promoted series.
The 2011 IRC season will get underway on the world-famous rally from Wednesday 19 January to Saturday 23 January with next year’s event marking 100 years since the first Monte Carlo Rally took place on 21 January 1911.
Meeke said: "It’s great news and shows the Monte organisers like the style of how the IRC is approaching the sport by taking it back to its roots and encouraging amateurs and importers to take part. The TV coverage on Eurosport is second to none and for a driver the Monte is one of the biggest challenges in rallying, if not motorsport as a whole."
Full details of the route and several key features, including initiatives to encourage the participation of amateur drivers as well as live television coverage, will be announced later in the year. The ACM has confirmed the rally route will include 324 competitive kilometres over 13 stages.

The Monte Carlo Rally will turn 100 when it opens the IRC next season

Basso and Rossetti join bulging Madeira entry

Factory-supported Abarth drivers Giandomenico Basso and Luca Rossetti will return to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge on Rali Vinho Madeira next month.
The Italians have claimed numerous victories in the IRC with Basso winning the Tarmac-based Madeira event on three occasions, including last season when he defeated Bruno Magalhaes in a nail-biting finish.
Basso and Rossetti are among 19 drivers in Super 2000 machines for the island rally, which runs from 5-7 August and features almost 300 competitive kilometres over 21 special stages.
Other notable highlights on the 56-car entry are Skoda trio Juho Hanninen, Jan Kopecky and Freddy Loix, defending IRC champion Kris Meeke and Bruno Magalhaes, the winner of the last IRC round in the Azores.
Heading the list of local drivers is Bernardo Sousa at the wheel of an M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000. Miguel Campos, a former Madeira winner, will drive a similar car.
Turkish lady driver Burcu Cetinkaya will also be taking part after being forced to miss the trip to the Azores while her Peugeot Sport Turkey 207 was being repaired following her crash on the Geko Ypres Rally last month.

Giandomenico Basso will return to the IRC on Rali Vinho Madeira

Trophy winner Magalhaes earns praise from Jim McRae

Jim McRae has praised Bruno Magalhaes after the Portuguese driver won the first Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy on Sata Rallye Acores last weekend.
The award, which is presented in memory of Jim McRae’s son Colin, will be handed to the most spectacular driver who best embodies the spirit of the rallying legend on rounds of the IRC.
It was conceived following the formation of an official partnership last month between Eurosport Events, the promoter of the IRC, and Colin McRae Vision, a charity established following the death of McRae, his young son Johnny and two family friends in a helicopter accident in 2007, which aims to improve health and education for children around the world.
"Even though he had good knowledge of the stages from before, he’s new to the IRC so to go at the pace he did obviously proves he’s got a load of talent," said Jim McRae. "I’m very pleased for him and it’s also a great thing to hear that Colin was his hero when he was growing up."

Silva secures latest Subaru Individual Award

Sergio Silva has won the latest Subaru Individual Award following his eighth-place finish on Sata Rallye Acores last weekend.
Silva, from Portugal, was one of five Subaru Impreza drivers contesting the gravel-based Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier on the Atlantic archipelago. Co-driven by Paulo Leal, Silva finished more than two minutes ahead of the next highest Subaru finishers, Paulo Rego and Abel Carreiro. The result also meant Silva secured one manufacturers‘ point for Subaru, while also earning a drivers‘ point for himself.
The Subaru Individual Award is presented on each of the 12 IRC rounds this year to the highest-placed Subaru finisher and demonstrates the support that Subaru is extending to its customer drivers in the IRC in 2010.
Olivier Burri (Monte Carlo), Juan San Martin (Curitiba), Gabriel Pozzo (Argentina), Jose Barrios (Canary Islands), Teemu Arminen (Sardinia) and Florian Gonon (Ypres) are the other Subaru Individual Award winners so far this season.

Sergio Silva is the latest Subaru Individual Award winner

www.rally-irc.com

Magalhaes was handed the prestigious award by a panel of judges consisting of IRC’s Motorsport Development Manager Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Gilbert Roy, Eurosport Events‘ Director of Editorial and Programme Development, and Colin’s father Jim McRae.
It followed his maiden IRC victory on last weekend’s Sata Rallye Acores when the 30-year-old doggedly fought back from a gearbox fault in his Peugeot Sport Portugal-run 207 Super 2000 to regain first place on the final stage of the challenging gravel event. Kris Meeke, who battled several punctures to finish second, and Andreas Mikkelsen, who recovered from a scary moment when he encountered a herd of cows to claim fourth were shortlisted for the award.
"It’s a pleasure to give this trophy to Bruno," said Nicolas. "After discussing with Jimmy McRae and Gilbert Roy we decided in this rally the fighting spirit of Colin was best shown by Bruno who has done a really fantastic rally. We hope he will fight again on the next rally to compete for the second trophy."
After accepting the award from Nicolas, Magalhaes said: "It’s a big honour for me because Colin is my hero. He was the driver who impressed me the most. I remember him in Rally of Portugal in 1999 when he won the first two special stages by one minute over the other guys and won the rally. He was incredible so for me it’s an honour to receive this gift because Colin is a hero."
Jim McRae added: "Even though he had good knowledge of the stages from before, he’s new to the IRC so to go at the pace he did obviously proves he’s got a load of talent. I’m very pleased for him and it’s also a great thing to hear that Colin was his hero when he was growing up."
The Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy will be presented on all remaining rounds of the IRC with an end of season trophy, the Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Driver of the Year, also being awarded at the IRC’s end of season award ceremony.
It was conceived following the formation of an official partnership last month between Eurosport Events, the promoter of the IRC, and Colin McRae Vision, a charity established following the death of the 1995 world rally champion, his young son Johnny and two family friends in a helicopter accident in 2007, which aims to improve health and education for children around the world.
Eurosport Events and Colin McRae Vision will work with organisers of selected rounds of the IRC to identify suitable projects and initiatives that help young people. They will also work with the IRC’s partners, manufacturers and drivers to promote the efforts of Colin McRae Vision and increase the levels of exposure and support, with regular updates on the IRC website (www.rally-irc.com), in the IRC newsletter and during television coverage of IRC rounds.
The 2010 IRC season continues with Rali Vinho Madeira, round eight of the series, from 5-7 August when the next Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy will be presented.

Bruno Magalhaes (left) receives the first Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy from Jean-Pierre Nicolas

www.rally-irc.com

Two tenths of a second will cover the top three cars when Sata Rallye Acores, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, resumes tomorrow (Friday). After the opening three stages, title leader Juho Hanninen holds a 0.2s advantage over Bruno Magalhaes with Andreas Mikkelsen tied on time with the Portuguese driver. The trio claimed a stage victory apiece as the gravel event on the Atlantic archipelago got off to a thrilling start.
Magalhaes, running fourth on the road in his Peugeot Sport Portugal 207 Super 2000, capitalised on the slightly cleaner road surface he encountered to go fastest on the opening stage. Although he admitted to making a few mistakes on the next test, which Hanninen won, he still maintained his overall advantage. However, he said that he was too hesitant over a jump on the day-closing superspecial stage, which allowed Hanninen to move in front.
Hanninen, tackling the stages second on the road behind IRC champion Kris Meeke, said he was surprised to have gone fastest on stage two after reporting a slippery stage surface due to the loose gravel. He attempted to counter this by carrying two spare BFGoodrich tyres in his Skoda Motorsport Fabia S2000, which he said had helped the balance of his car.
Running sixth on the road, Mikkelsen said he had struggled through stage two after being forced to make his pacenotes for the test during the fog-hit reconnaissance on Tuesday, but was otherwise delighted with his performance in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 after recording his first stage win in the IRC.
Jan Kopecky is fourth overnight and will hope that his Skoda Motorsport mechanics will be able to plug a small hole in his Fabia S2000, which ingested clouds of dust during the opening stage, as well as repairing a broken clutch, which faltered seconds before the start of the superspecial stage.
Bernardo Sousa, the current Portuguese championship leader, completed leg one in fifth overall and will therefore start first on Friday’s second leg after the top five places are reversed to determine the new running order. He had trailed Meeke after the first stage but moved ahead of Meeke on stage two when the Northern Irishman dropped time in his Peugeot UK 207.
Meeke described driving first on the road through the loose coating of surface gravel as "impossible", while co-driver Paul Nagle admitted they feared they had picked up two punctures on stage one after running wide and clouting some rocks.
"You could see the times of the guys running further back were much faster than those running up front and that was definitely the case for me," said Meeke, who is sixth on the road for day two and well-placed to capitalise thanks to his superior starting position. "It was so easy to make a mistake because it was just so slippery."
Azores rally champion Ricardo Moura suffered an early blow when he picked up a puncture six kilometres from the end of the opening 14.9-kilometre stage in his Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. He’s ninth overnight behind Pedro Peres and Vitor Pascoal. Pedro Vale completes the top 10 in his Lancer.
Brazilian Rafael Tulio heads the IRC 2WD Cup runners in his Peugeot 206 with Carlos Oliveira next up in a similar car.
Friday’s leg consists of nine stages, the first of which, Batalha Golfe, gets underway at 10:03hrs local time.

DRIVER QUOTES

Juho Hanninen (Finland), Skoda Fabia S2000, first overall: "It was very slippery so I am surprised I set such a good time on stage two. The car has been perfect but the big problem will be tomorrow and Kris Meeke because he will come very fast with his road position. But tomorrow is another day so we will see."
Bruno Magalhaes (Portugal), Peugeot 207 S2000, second overall: "I’m very happy. We did a test on Monday and I found a lot of confidence in the car, which gave me a good rhythm. I damaged my car on the jump in the superspecial last year so I took it more slowly this time and that cost me the lead."
Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway), M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000, third overall: "I decided to have a lot of fun on the superspecial and it worked very well for me. I don’t think we can push too much more but I am very satisfied with what we have achieved today."

TOP 10 IRC POSITIONS AFTER LEG ONE

1 Juho Hanninen/Mikko Markkula (Skoda Fabia S2000) 18m35.8s
2 Bruno Magalhaes/Carlos Magalhaes (Peugeot 207 S2000) +0.2s
3 Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000) +0.2s
4 Jan Kopecky/Petr Stary (Skoda Fabia S2000) +5.5s
5 Bernardo Sousa/Nuno Silva (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000) +11.3s
6 Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000) +12.3s
7 Pedro Peres/Tiago Ferreira (Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) +46.6s
8 Vitor Pascoal/Mario Castro (Peugeot 207 S2000) +47.4s
9 Ricardo Moura/Sancho Eiro (Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) +49.7s
10 Pedro Vale/Rui Madeiros (Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) +1m20.1s

LEG TWO ITINERARY

Service C: Ponta Delgada, 09:30hrs; SS4: Batalha Golfe 1 (7.90kms), 10:03hrs; SS5: Feteiras 1 (7.47kms), 10:38hrs; SS6: Sete Cidades 1 (18.30kms), 11:03hrs; Service D: Ponta Delgada, 12:18hrs; SS7: Batalha Golfe 2 (7.90kms), 12:57hrs; SS8: Feteiras 2 (7.47kms), 13:32hrs; SS9: Sete Cidades 2 (18.30kms), 13:57hrs; Service E: Ponta Delgada, 15:12hrs; SS10: Lagoa/Marques 2 (14.90kms), 15:57hrs; SS11: Achada das Furnas 1 (8.42kms), 16:50hrs; SS12: Lomba da Maia 1 (7.80kms), 17:13hrs; Service F: Ponta Delgada, 18:38hrs.

TV TIMES

Eurosport, Europe’s largest television sports channel, will show highlights of the opening day of the rally, which will also be available at www.rally-irc.com, as follows:
Thursday 15 July
23:00hrs-23:30hrs Day one highlights (Eurosport and Eurosport Asia-Pacific)
Friday 16 July
09:00hrs-09:30hrs Day one highlights repeated (Eurosport and Eurosport Asia-Pacific)
All times are CET

www.rally-irc.com

Kris Meeke has refused to concede defeat in his efforts to defend his Intercontinental Rally Challenge title, vowing to hit the ground running when the series resumes on Sata Rallye Acores from 15-17 July.
The Peugeot UK driver is fifth in the drivers‘ standings, 27 points adrift of leader Juho Hanninen, following his crash on last weekend’s Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium, the third time this season that he has failed to finish an IRC qualifier due to an accident.
"It’s getting more difficult [to defend my title] and maybe we’ll have to change our approach a bit because we can’t carry on pushing to the limit in every corner and on every rally," said Meeke, who turns 31 tomorrow (Friday 2 July). "But Acores is another rally and we go there hoping to hit the ground running."
Co-driven by Paul Nagle, Meeke won Sata Rallye Acores on his first appearance on the event last season. The maximum haul of points he scored back then put him to the top of the IRC standings, where he remained for the rest of 2009.

Kris Meeke is convinced he can defend his IRC crown

Busy weekend in store for factory Skoda drivers

Skoda Motorsport drivers Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky are braced for busy weekends, even though the next round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge is more than two weeks away.
Hanninen, the current IRC series leader, is contesting Rally Bohemia in Czech Republic, while team-mate Kopecky is taking part on Rally di San Marino, round four of the Italian Rally Championship.
Rally Bohemia, which forms part of the Czech Rally Championship, takes on added significance for Skoda. Not only is the rally centred in Mlada Boleslav, where Skoda is based, but the event will also mark the first time the new Fabia Super 2000 Facelift has competed in the Czech Republic following its debut victory in the hands of Freddy Loix on the Geko Ypres Rally last weekend.
Pavel Valousek, the current Czech championship leader, will also be at the wheel of a factory-supported Fabia S2000 Facelift on Rally Bohemia, albeit run under the Skoda Delimax banner.
Loix, meanwhile, is heading to the UK for the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, where he will be demonstrating a Fabia S2000.

Nicolas calls on IRC community to support Colin McRae Vision

Jean-Pierre Nicolas, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge Motorsport Development Manager, has called on the IRC community to help support the work of Colin McRae Vision, which announced an official partnership with the IRC prior to the Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium last week.
Colin McRae Vision was established following the accident which claimed the lives of rally legend Colin McRae, his five-year-old son Johnny, and two family friends in September 2007, to improve health and education for children around the world. The relationship with the IRC will support charities and good causes that help young people living close to the route of IRC events.
Nicolas said: "We invite all the IRC community to join us, to give some new ideas for this project and to help raise some money for the charity to improve health and education of children."
IRC champion Kris Meeke, a former protégé of McRae and an ambassador of Colin McRae Vision, added: "It’s fantastic to be able to use his popularity to give something back to the communities where the rallies go to and all credit to the McRae family and everyone who has come up with this idea. It can only go from strength to strength."

Gonon clinches Subaru Individual Award in Ypres

Florian Gonon’s run to 16th overall on last weekend’s Geko Ypres Rally has earned him the latest Subaru Individual Award.
Swiss champion Gonon, who was driving an Impreza for the Annie Spiers Rallye Team, was making his Ypres debut and his first appearance in this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
"The more confident we got the more our times came down," said the 34-year-old. "We struggled on the first day with a few technical issues but I was very pleased with my result and really enjoyed the atmosphere of the event."
The Subaru Individual Award is presented on each of the 12 IRC rounds this year to the highest-placed Subaru finisher and demonstrates the support that Subaru is extending to its customer drivers in the IRC in 2010.
Swiss Olivier Burri (Monte Carlo), Juan San Martin (Curitiba), Gabriel Pozzo (Argentina), Jose Barrios (Canary Islands) and Teemu Arminen (Sardinia) are the other Subaru Individual Award winners so far this season.

Florian Gonon is the latest Subaru Individual Award winner

Lino Vanelli

It is with regret that we advise of the passing of photographer Lino Vanelli, who was a founding member of the respected PHOTO 4 agency 35 years ago, and formed part of the official IRC photography team since the start of the series back in 2007. Lino was a popular member of the IRC community and covered rallies throughout the world. He was 62.

www.rally-irc.com

Sixth Geko Ypres victory for popular local hero
Kopecky closes on title lead with Skoda one-two
Local hero Freddy Loix has clinched his sixth Geko Ypres Rally victory to become the fifth different winner of an Intercontinental Rally Challenge round this season. Driving for Skoda Motorsport for the first time, the Belgian was roared all the way through Saturday’s 13 sun-coated special stages by tens of thousands of adoring fans, who lined the demanding all-asphalt route.
Co-driven by fellow Belgian Frederic Miclotte, Loix had started day two with a slender 5.8-second lead over Peugeot UK’s Kris Meeke, last year’s Ypres winner and the defending IRC champion. But what was shaping up to be a repeat of the pair’s epic battle in Belgium 12 months previously ended when Meeke suffered a spectacular high-speed roll on Saturday’s second stage.
With runaway IRC title leader Juho Hanninen crashing into retirement on Friday evening, Meeke was desperate to make the most of the Finn’s early exit by taking his second win of 2010. But it all went awry for the Northern Irishman when he lost control on the exit of a fast right-hander two kilometres into the stage, clipped a bank and rolled. Fortunately both Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle were uninjured but the crash marked their fourth retirement of the season.
"It was a mistake with the pacenote," said Meeke, who began day two of the rally by claiming his third fastest stage time. "We turned in a little too early and ran out of room on the exit of the corner. When you’re pushing like we were that kind of thing can happen."
Although Meeke’s crash took the pressure off Loix, the 39-year-old rued his rival’s retirement as it meant he had to adopt a less attacking style while also maintaining his concentration by driving at a similar pace for the remainder of the leg, which covered more than 190 competitive kilometres. Apart from a minor brake glitch, little troubled the driver affectionately known as Fast Freddy, whose win was Skoda’s fourth in the IRC in 2010 and its first with the facelift Fabia.
Meeke’s departure handed second place to Jan Kopecky, who has closed to within three points of Hanninen at the top of the title standings with six rounds remaining. Kopecky got to within 25 seconds of Loix with a succession of fastest stage times on Saturday afternoon but a mistake on stage 15, when he went wide into a field, ended any outside hopes he might have had of snatching an unlikely victory.
In fact, Kopecky admitted to a lack of confidence with the handling of his Fabia Super 2000, but was able to dial-out the contributing understeer by making a handful of set-up changes.

Freddy Loix flew to his sixth Ypres win on IRC return

Thierry Neuville took a career-best third in his Kronos Racing-run Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207. The young Belgian showed a level of maturity that belied his 22 years and rarely made a mistake as he adhered to team orders by reducing his pace to ensure a podium finish. His performance, which elevates him to sixth in the standings, provided some cheer for the Kronos squad, which lost the cars of Meeke and Belgian championship leader Pieter Tsjoen in separate accidents.
Belgian Bernd Casier was a solid fourth overall in his Skoda Fabia with Andreas Mikkelsen fifth in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000. The Norwegian was delayed by a puncture on Friday’s second stage but gradually climbed the leaderboard throughout Saturday to bag his first IRC points and finish as the highest-placed Ypres Rally rookie.
Veteran Patrick Snijers was keeping the charging Bruno Magalhaes at bay and seemingly certain of sixth place in his 207 only to retire on the final stage with a technical fault. Magalhaes was pushing hard in his efforts to lessen the impact of a 1m10s time penalty imposed for twice leaving service late due to a gearbox problem and was rewarded with sixth place when Snijers retired.
Poland’s Michal Solowow overcame a puncture on the final stage to claim seventh in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000, with Luca Betti eighth and rounding out the point scorers after also falling victim to a deflated tyre on the last run.
Dutch youngster Kevin Abbring won the IRC 2WD Cup in his Clio R3, one place ahead of Corsican Pierre Campana, who now leads the two-wheel drive standings in his similar car, despite a slow puncture on the penultimate stage. Kris Princen had led the class only to drop out of Friday’s first leg with alternator failure.

Thierry Neuville was the leading Peugeot finisher in third

DRIVER QUOTES

Freddy Loix (Belgium), Skoda Fabia S2000, first overall: "I’m very happy, very happy. It was a nice comeback for me to the IRC. I really have to thank my sponsor BFO and Skoda Motorsport who gave me the possibility to prepare myself properly and provided me with a car to win. It was difficult when Kris retired because it was hard to know how much to attack so I am very happy."
Jan Kopecky (Czech Republic), Skoda Fabia S2000, second overall: "We have again a one-two for Skoda and showed what a good car we have. Freddy did a very good job so congratulations to him. The championship is closer now and Azores is coming next where we will do our best."
Thierry Neuville (Belgium), Peugeot 207 S2000, third overall: "I am so happy, it is incredible. It was a long weekend but this result will really help for the future. I had to listen to my team and drive more slowly today to get to the finish but I was happy to do that."

Loix and co-driver Frederic Miclotte (centre) celebrate Ypres win

TOP TEN IRC POSITIONS AFTER LEG TWO

1 Freddy Loix/Frederic Miclotte (Skoda Fabia S2000) 2h35m36.9s
2 Jan Kopecky/Petr Stary (Skoda Fabia S2000) +22.1s
3 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Klinger (Peugeot 207 S2000) +2m05.5s
4 Bernd Casier/Francis Caesemaeker (Skoda Fabia S2000) +4m06.1s
5 Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000) +5m20.9s
6 Bruno Magalhaes/Carlos Magalhaes (Peugeot 207 S2000) +6m06.2s
7 Michal Solowow/Maciej Baran (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000) +7m24.5s
8 Luca Betti/Pierangelo Scalvini (Peugeot 207 S2000) +9m37.6s
9 Corrado Fontana/Nicola Arena (Peugeot 207 S2000) +9m53.0s
10 Maciej Oleksowicz/Andrzej Obrebowski (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000) +10m39.0s
Leading IRC 2WD Cup finishers: Kevin Abbring/Erwin Mombaerts (Clio R3)

IRC STANDINGS

Drivers after round six of 12
1 Juho Hanninen (Finland) 42pts
2 Jan Kopecky (Czech Republic) 39pts
3 Guy Wilks (United Kingdom) 25pts
4 Bruno Magalhaes (Portugal) 20pts
5 Kris Meeke (United Kingdom) 15pts
6 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) 11pts
7 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) 10pts
= Freddy Loix (Belgium) 10pts
9 Paolo Andreucci (Italy) 8pts
10 Nicolas Vouilloz (France) 6pts etc
Manufacturers after round six of 12
1 Skoda 98pts
2 Peugeot 55pts
3 M-Sport 21pts
4 Subaru 10pts
5 Ralliart 8pts
IRC 2WD Drivers after round six of 12
1 Pierre Campana 16pts
2 Kevin Abbring 10pts
= Harry Hunt 10pts
= Yeray Lemes 10pts
= Kris Princen 10pts
= Marcos Tokarski 10pts
= Rafael Tulio 10pts
8 Enrique Cruz 8pts
= Luis Gius 8pts
= Pablo Pelaez 8pts
= Colin R Smith 8pts
= Luis Tedesco 8pts etc
IRC 2WD Manufacturers after round six of 12
1 M-Sport 68pts
2 Peugeot 42pts
3 Abarth 19pts
4 Honda 16pts
5 Skoda 5pts

RALLY LEADERS

Kris Meeke: SS1-2
Freddy Loix: SS3-19

STAGE WINNERS

Friday 25 June
SS1: Hollebeke 1 (28.82kms): Kris Meeke
SS2: Westouter 1 (6.04kms): Freddy Loix
SS3: Messen-Sauvegarde 1 (14.80kms): Freddy Loix
SS4: Hollebeke 2 (28.82kms): Freddy Loix
SS5: Westouter 2 (6.04kms): Kris Meeke
SS6: Mesen-Sauvegarde 2 (14.80kms): Freddy Loix
Saturday 26 June
SS7: Proven-Vieteren 1 (14.80kms): Kris Meeke
SS8: Watou 1 (12.33kms): Freddy Loix
SS9: Kemmelberg 1 (9.06kms): Freddy Loix
SS10: Langemark 1 (18.84kms): Jan Kopecky
SS11: Dikkebus 1 (11.32kms): Jan Kopecky
SS12: Heuvelland 1 (28.80kms): Jan Kopecky
SS13: Lille-Eurometropole (1.66kms): Jan Kopecky
SS14: Proven-Vieteren 2 (14.80kms): Jan Kopecky
SS15: Watou 2 (12.33kms): Freddy Loix
SS16: Kemmelberg 2 (9.06kms): Freddy Loix
SS17: Langemark 2 (18.84kms): Freddy Loix
SS18: Dikkebus 2 (11.32kms): Jan Kopecky
SS19: Heuvelland 2 (28.80kms): Jan Kopecky

KEY STATISTICS

Rally wins in 2010 (drivers)
Hanninen: 2
Hirvonen: 1
Kopecky: 1
Loix: 1
Meeke: 1
Rally wins in 2010 (manufacturers)
Skoda: 4
M-Sport: 1
Peugeot: 1
Stage wins in 2010 (drivers)
Juho Hanninen: 22
Kris Meeke: 21
Jan Kopecky: 16
Freddy Loix: 9
Sebastien Ogier: 7
Paolo Andreucci: 5
Mikko Hirvonen: 3
Stephane Sarrazin: 2
Nicolas Vouilloz: 1
Guy Wilks: 1
Stage wins in 2010 (manufacturers)
Skoda: 48
Peugeot: 35
M-Sport: 3

TV TIMES

Daily highlights of the Geko Ypres Rally will be available at www.rally-irc.com, while Eurosport, Europe’s largest television sports channel, will show coverage on Sunday 27 June as follows:
10:00-10:30: Day two highlights repeated (Eurosport 2)
10:15-10:45: Day two highlights repeated (Eurosport)
23:15-23:45: Magazine programme (Eurosport and Eurosport Asia-Pacific)

www.rally-irc.com

Freddy Loix is on course for his sixth Geko Ypres Rally victory after completing Friday’s opening leg with a lead of 5.8 seconds over last year’s winner Kris Meeke. But there will be no chance of a sixth consecutive podium finish for Intercontinental Rally Challenge leader Juho Hanninen after the works Skoda Motorsport driver slid into a ditch on the day’s fourth stage and got stuck, retiring from the event in the process.
Hanninen’s exit has turned the race for the IRC title on its head with Peugeot UK’s Meeke and works Skoda team-mate Jan Kopecky poised to capitalise in second and third places respectively. However, neither driver has been able to check Loix’s impressive progress on his first appearance in the IRC this season.
Loix, cheered on by thousands of enthusiastic spectators, won four of today’s six sun-baked stages on his first outing with the factory Skoda squad, which is running its facelift Fabia for the first time in Belgium. According to the 39-year-old, the car’s wider track has enhanced its stability in fast corners, which he said has given him a "perfect feeling" on the technically demanding asphalt stages.
Meeke was full of praise for Loix at the end of Friday’s leg, conceding that he couldn’t have gone any faster in his Kronos Racing 207. Meeke’s co-driver Paul Nagle suggested running number one on the road had proved a slight disadvantage, particularly on the third Mesen-Sauvegarde stage when they ran first over a short gravel section and lost the lead to Loix, who was running nine places further back. Meeke also reported struggling to get on the throttle exiting junctions on the second pass due to the amount of gravel that had been pulled onto the road.
Jan Kopecky is third overnight in his factory Fabia but suggested he could have been closer to the pace had he not opted for a soft compound tyre for the second loop of stages. With ambient temperatures still high heading into the evening’s stages, the rubber gradually lost optimum performance and proved a minor hindrance for the Czech ace.
Rising Belgian star Thierry Neuville is an impressive fourth overall in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207 with Pieter Tsjoen fifth and Bernd Casier sixth. Andreas Mikkelsen, a puncture victim on stage two, is seventh in the lead M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 with local legend Patrick Snijers in the final points-paying position in eighth.
Bruno Magalhaes is up to ninth on his first appearance in Ypres at the wheel of his Peugeot Sport Portugal 207. Jasper van den Heuvel is the highest-placed driver in a conventional Group N machine in tenth place in his Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer.
Friday’s opening stage proved troublesome for several crews including Toshi Arai and Stephane Sarrazin. Sarrazin failed to complete the run after a puncture caused him to slide off into a ditch on a right-hand bend five kilometres into the test, where his Peugeot 207 became stranded. Arai spun his Subaru Impreza on a square left junction and, in his efforts to get pointed in the right direction, he inadvertently slid into a ditch but fortunately managed to regain the road, albeit with a delay of almost 10 minutes.
Proton’s return to the IRC ended in disappointment when the factory cars of Australian Chris Atkinson and Scot Alister McRae and the semi-works Satria of young Briton Tom Cave all stopped with engine failures on stage four. None of the trio will restart on Saturday.
Young Dutch driver Kevin Abbring tops the IRC 2WD Cup standings in his Clio R3 from Corsican Pierre Campana, who overcame a puncture on stage two. Belgian Kris Princen had led the division only to retire on stage five.
Saturday’s leg is almost double the distance of Friday with crews tackling 191.96 competitive kilometres over 13 special stages. The opening stage gets underway at 11:13hrs local time with the first car due to reach the finish in Ypres at 22:30hrs.

Freddy Loix leads the Geko Ypres Rally on his IRC return

DRIVER QUOTES

Freddy Loix (Belgium), Skoda Fabia S2000, first overall: "It’s a little bit of a surprise for me to be straight away fighting at the front but I have a very good feeling with my car from the pre-event test and I know these stages well. It’s much too early to think about winning but I have to say we are on the limit."
Kris Meeke (United Kingdom), Peugeot 207 S2000, second overall: "Freddy took quite a bit of time out of me and I couldn’t do any more. If he keeps at that pace it’s going to be difficult to catch him but it’s never over until it’s over. I had nigh on a perfect stage [stage six] and couldn’t find another tenth so we’ll take what we have."
Jan Kopecky (Czech Republic), Skoda Fabia S2000, third overall: "It has been a tricky rally and it is a shame for Juho. We will try to come back for sure but so far it has not been easy. We had a big moment on the first stage when I went a bit off the road and I was quite cautious after that."

Kris Meeke has been impressed by Freddy Loix’s pace

TOP TEN IRC POSITIONS AFTER LEG ONE

1 Freddy Loix/Frederic Miclotte (Skoda Fabia S2000) +54m33.6s
2 Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000) +5.8s
3 Jan Kopecky/Petr Stary (Skoda Fabia S2000) +22.1s
4 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Klinger (Peugeot 207 S2000) +45.7s
5 Pieter Tsjoen/Eddy Chevaillier (Peugeot 207 S2000) +1m10.5s
6 Bernd Casier/Francis Caesemaeker (Skoda Fabia S2000) +1m37.6s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene (M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000) +1m58.2s
8 Patrick Snijers/Cindy Cokelaere (Peugeot 207 S2000) +2m07.2s
9 Bruno Magalhaes/Carlos Magalhaes (Peugeot 207 S2000) +2m14.8s
10 Jasper van den Heuvel/Martine Kolman (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X) +2m30.5s

LEG TWO ITINERARY (SATURDAY 26 JUNE)

Service D: Ieper Rally Center, 10:30hrs; SS7: Proven-Vieteren 1 (14.80kms), 11:13hrs; SS8: Watou 1 (12.33kms), 11:31hrs; SS9: Kemmelberg 1 (9.06kms), 12:12hrs; Service E: Ieper Rally Center, 13:01hrs; SS10: Langemark 1 (18.84kms), 13:41hrs; SS11: Dikkebus 1 (11.32kms), 14:16hrs; SS12: Heuvelland 1 (28.80kms), 14:43hrs; SS13: Lille-Eurometropole (1.66kms), 15:56hrs; Service F: Ieper Rally Center, 17:20hrs; SS14: Proven-Vieteren 2 (14.80kms), 18:13hrs; SS15: Watou 2 (12.33kms), 18:31hrs; SS16: Kemmelberg 2 (9.06kms), 19:12hrs; Service G: Ieper Rally Center, 20:01hrs; SS17: Langemark 2 (18.84kms), 20:41hrs; SS18: Dikkebus 2 (11.32kms), 21:16hrs; SS19: Heuvelland 2 (28.80kms), 21.43hrs; Service H: Ieper Rally Center, 22:30hrs; Finish: Ieper Rally Center, 22:40hrs.

TV TIMES

Eurosport, Europe’s largest television sports channel, will broadcast live coverage from the service park in Ypres, plus action from each day of the event. It will also show a rally highlights show, while highlights will also be available at www.rally-irc.com.
Saturday 26 June
10:00-10:30: Day one highlights repeated (Eurosport 2)
22:45-23:15: Day one highlights repeated (Eurosport)
23:15-23:45: LIVE from the service park and day highlights (Eurosport and Eurosport Asia-Pacific)
Sunday 27 June
10:00-10:30: Day two highlights repeated (Eurosport 2)
10:15-10:45: Day two highlights repeated (Eurosport)
23:15-23:45: Magazine programme (Eurosport and Eurosport Asia-Pacific)

www.rally-irc.com

Thierry Neuville insists he won’t be feeling any added pressure when he starts the Geko Ypres Rally on Friday, despite his billing as one of his country’s brightest hopes for the future.
Neuville, 21, hails from Hunningen in the far east of Belgium near to the border with Germany, approximately 300 kilometres from Ypres, where round sixth of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge will be taking place.
He will drive a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 run by the vastly successful Kronos Racing operation under the Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg banner in deference to backing from the two Peugeot importers.
"Ypres is the most important event of the year for me with lots of people in Belgium looking for my result," said Neuville. "But I don’t feel under any pressure to try to win because of this. All I want to do is stay on the road and get some experience."
Neuville made his debut in a S2000 car on the event last season after being selected for the BFGoodrich Drivers‘ Team seat by a panel of Belgian journalists. He ran as high as fourth before a crash forced his retirement.
"Even though the stages can be quite hard it is a real pleasure to drive in Ypres and it’s good that I have some experience of this event," said Neuville. "I came to watch this rally with my family when I was 10 years old so it is nice to be here competing."

Neuville will be chasing a finish on his home IRC event

Loix to make Goodwood Festival of Speed debut

Belgian ace Freddy Loix will make his debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK next month (2-4 July). The 39-year-old, who is due to return to Intercontinental Rally Challenge duty on this week’s Geko Ypres Rally, will pilot a Skoda Fabia Super 2000 at the motorsport extravaganza, which regularly attracts in excess of 100,000 spectators.
Loix drives for Skoda’s Belgian importer in the country’s national rally championship and is also embarking on a selected programme of IRC rallies, starting with the Tarmac-based Ypres Rally, when he will drive a third Fabia for the factory Skoda Motorsport team.
At Goodwood, Loix will drive a Skoda UK Motorsport-run Fabia in place of Briton Guy Wilks, who is still recovering from the injuries he sustained during his crash on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna earlier this month. Although he won’t be able to drive, Wilks will be present at Goodwood to sign autographs and meet fans.
Numerous big names from several motorsport disciplines will be attending the Festival, which features an asphalt hill climb and a gravel rally stage, as well as static displays of competition cars.

New website for Sibiu Rally IRC Supporter Event

Organisers of the Sibiu Rally, the IRC Supporter Event, have created a new English-language website at www.raliulsibiului.ro/en/.
The all-gravel event takes place in Sibiu, Romania, from 15-18 July. As well as being an IRC Supporter Event, it is also the fifth round of the popular Romanian National Rally Championship.
Sibiu Rally bosses are trying to attract more drivers from outside of Romania to take part on the event and organiser, Sorin Itu, said: "We will have more kilometres of stages than in 2009 for bringing us closer to the standard of an IRC event. We will also reintroduce the night stage Santa and are preparing many surprises for this year’s edition."
The Sibiu Rally, the second of three IRC Supporter Events scheduled to run this season, gets underway with a ceremonial start in the main square in Sibiu on 15 July.

RACMSA Rally of Scotland tickets go on sale

Tickets for RACMSA Rally of Scotland, the penultimate round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, have gone on sale to members of the public.
Prices have been reduced this year in response to the current economic downturn with various packages available to fans ranging from a ticket offering access to a single stage to a pass covering all stages and services. Furthermore, children under 16 attending the event with an adult will be admitted free of charge to all stages.
RACMSA Rally of Scotland made its first appearance in the IRC in 2009 and was won by Guy Wilks in a Skoda Fabia Super 2000. This year’s event is based in Perth and is scheduled to take place from 15-17 October.
Full ticket details are available at www.rallyofscotland.com.

Tickets for Scotland’s IRC round are now on sale to fans

www.rally-irc.com

Second IRC victory of the season for flying Finn
Crash for Meeke hits hopes of title defence
Juho Hanninen has strengthened his grip on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers‘ title with his second victory of the season on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna today (Sunday). Driving a factory Skoda Motorsport-run Fabia, the Finn took a slender lead on the rally’s ninth stage and pulled clear when Kris Meeke, his closest pursuer, crashed heavily on stage 10. The accident was captured live on Eurosport, which covered four stages of the sun-coated gravel event as they happened.
Hanninen’s win means he has finished on the podium on all five rounds of the IRC so far this season and is now 11 points to the good in the battle for the coveted drivers‘ accolade. With team-mate Jan Kopecky taking third behind Peugeot driver Paolo Andreucci, Skoda now tops the manufacturers‘ table by 34 points.
Andreucci started Sunday’s six stages 7.4s clear of fellow Peugeot runner Meeke, but lost more than 20 seconds with a sluggish run through the first Coiluna stage after opting to run a soft suspension set-up on his Peugeot Sport Italia 207, which resulted in a handling imbalance. After dropping to third, Andreucci moved to second when Meeke crashed. However, he then had to stave off Kopecky’s advances over the final two runs. He prevailed by 2.6s after setting the fastest time on the last Monte Olia run.
Kopecky had been playing catch up after a moment on stage three when he inflicted sizable damage to his Fabia’s front-right corner striking a rock, which necessitated a rapid overhaul in service by his mechanics.
Meeke was 3.6s behind Hanninen when he understeered off the road on a sweeping left-hand bend. His Peugeot UK 207 ended up on its side and would go no further. It was a disappointing end to an impressive drive by the defending IRC champion, who claimed two stage wins during the course of the event.
Thierry Neuville secured a notable fourth overall in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207 on his first gravel event in a four-wheel drive car. It was also the first time the 21-year-old has finished an IRC round in three attempts having crashed out on his last two outings.

Juho Hanninen took his second win in the IRC this season

P-G Andersson had fought his way up to seventh place only for a transmission failure to ground his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X two kilometres from the end of stage 10 when he was closing on sixth-placed Teemu Arminen for the honour of finishing as the leading driver in a conventional Group N car.
Arminen admitted to adopting a more cautious approach on Sunday in order to secure a finish in the Italian Gravel Rally Trophy, which rewarded double points in Sardinia. The Finn’s conservatism in his Subaru Impreza ultimately let in Bruno Magalhaes for fifth overall, while Arminen clinched the Italian Gravel title with two rounds remaining when Mauro Trentin retired on the last stage.
Driving for Peugeot Sport Portugal, Magalhaes incurred 2m30s of time penalties for his late departure from midday service in Simaxis on Saturday while his mechanics rectified a major brake problem. He faced the prospect of carving through the loose surface gravel on day two by virtue of starting first on the road but drove without error to battle back to fifth place and maintain his 100 per cent scoring record.
Luigi Ricci recovered from a handful of punctures to claim seventh in his Impreza with Daniele Batistini landing the final IRC drivers‘ championship point in eighth overall.
Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen, 20, restarted on Sunday after rolling into retirement on Saturday’s first stage and set a succession of top five times in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta on his first of seven planned IRC appearances.
Burcu Cetinkaya also returned to action on Sunday following her retirement on Saturday when a wheel worked loose. The 29-year-old Peugeot Sport Turkey driver used the leg to gain more experience of her 207 S2000 and its Yokohama tyres.
Although his 207 was restored to full working order following his off on stage three on Saturday, Saudi Arabian Yazeed Al Rajhi elected not to take the restart. Sebastien Ogier failed to go beyond Saturday’s first stage when his Peugeot’s engine overheated.
Briton Harry Hunt secured the IRC 2WD Cup laurels on his return to the series for the first time since Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in January. Driving a Ford Fiesta R2, Hunt had trailed Estonian Kaspar Koitla but moved ahead when the Honda Civic Type R driver rolled on stage eight while leading comfortably. Colin R Smith made it a British one-two in his Civic, despite spending more than six minutes stuck on a bank on Saturday.

Paolo Andreucci claimed second place after late battle

DRIVER QUOTES

Juho Hanninen (Finland), Skoda Fabia S2000, first overall: "It’s gone very well for me. I’ve never had to really go on full attack on this rally, which was a good thing because it would have been hard to find more pace on these difficult stages. There have been no mistakes all weekend and it’s a very good result for the championship. I am not so confident for Tarmac so to win here is important for the rest of the season."
Paolo Andreucci (Italy), Peugeot 207 S2000, second overall: "I did not expect this result so for that reason I am very happy. I had to drive very fast on that last stage but it was a fantastic fight. We did not have such a good start today but we improved. The car and my Pirelli tyres were very good."
Jan Kopecky (Czech Republic), Skoda Fabia S2000, third overall: "I am pleased with this result for me and for Skoda. It was a good battle with Andreucci but I am not disappointed to have lost to him because he drove very well. If anything I am disappointed with myself for the mistake on Saturday."

Jan Kopecky (left) secured the final podium spot

TOP TEN IRC POSITIONS AFTER LEG TWO

1 Juho Hanninen/Mikko Markkula (Skoda Fabia S2000) 2h31m28.6s
2 Paolo Andreucci/Anna Andreucci (Peugeot 207 S2000) +35.6s
3 Jan Kopecky/Petr Stary (Skoda Fabia S2000) +38.2s
4 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Klinger (Peugeot 207 S2000) +5m58.6s
5 Bruno Magalhaes/Carlos Magalhaes (Peugeot 207 S2000) +9m55.8s
6 Teemu Arminen/Tuomo Nikkola (Subaru Impreza WRX) +10m12.3s
7 Luigi Ricci/Maurizio Barone (Subaru Impreza WRX) +11m33.4s
8 Daniele Batistini/Carlo Pisano (Peugeot 207 S2000) +11m58.1s
9 Filippo Bordignon/Justin Bardini (Subaru Impreza WRX) +19m56.2s
10 Gianluca Linari/Andrea Cecchi (Subaru Impreza WRX) +21m07.0s
Leading IRC 2WD Cup finishers: Harry Hunt/Sebastian Marshall (Ford Fiesta R2)

IRC STANDINGS

Drivers after round five of 12
1 Juho Hanninen (Finland) 42pts
2 Jan Kopecky (Czech Republic) 31pts
3 Guy Wilks (United Kingdom) 25pts
4 Bruno Magalhaes (Portugal) 17pts
5 Kris Meeke (United Kingdom) 15pts
6 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) 10pts
7 Paolo Andreucci (Italy) 8pts
8 Nicolas Vouilloz (France) 6pts
9 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) 5pts
= Gabriel Pozzo (Argentina) 5pts
= Stephane Sarrazin (France) 5pts etc
Manufacturers after round five of 12
1 Skoda 80pts
2 Peugeot 46pts
3 M-Sport 15pts
4 Subaru 10pts
5 Ralliart 8pts
IRC 2WD Drivers after round five of 12
1 Harry Hunt 10pts
= Yeray Lemes 10pts
= Kris Princen 10pts
= Marcos Tokarski 10pts
= Rafael Tulio 10pts
5 Pierre Campana 8pts
= Enrique Cruz 8pts
= Luis Gius 8pts
= Pablo Pelaez 8pts
= Colin R Smith 8pts
= Luis Tedesco 8pts
IRC 2WD Manufacturers after round five of 12
1 M-Sport 50pts
2 Peugeot 36pts
3 Abarth 19pts
4 Honda 16pts
5 Skoda 5pts

RALLY LEADERS

Jan Kopecky: SS2
Paolo Andreucci: SS3 and SS6-7
Kris Meeke: SS4-5 and SS8
Juho Hanninen: SS9-13

STAGE WINNERS

Saturday 5 June
SS2: Monte Grighine 1 (28.66kms): Jan Kopecky
SS3: Gonnosno 1 (14.53kms): Paolo Andreucci
SS4: Monte Grighine 2 (28.66kms): Kris Meeke
SS5: Gonnosno 2 (14.53kms): Jan Kopecky
SS6: Monte Lerno 1 (11.89kms): Paolo Andreucci
SS7: Monte Lerno 2 (11.89kms): Paolo Andreucci
Sunday 6 June
SS8: Coiluna 1 (25.97kms): Kris Meeke
SS9: Terranova 1 (13.18kms): Jan Kopecky
SS10: Coiluna 2 (25.97kms): Juho Hanninen
SS11: Monte Olia 1 (14.12kms): Paolo Andreucci
SS12: Terranova 2 (13.18kms): Juho Hanninen
SS13: Monte Olia 2 (14.12kms): Paolo Andreucci

KEY STATISTICS

Rally wins in 2010 (drivers)
Hanninen: 2
Hirvonen: 1
Kopecky: 1
Meeke: 1
Rally wins in 2010 (manufacturers)
Skoda: 3
M-Sport: 1
Peugeot: 1
Stage wins in 2010 (drivers)
Juho Hanninen: 22
Kris Meeke: 18
Jan Kopecky: 9
Sebastien Ogier: 7
Paolo Andreucci: 5
Mikko Hirvonen: 3
Stephane Sarrazin: 2
Nicolas Vouilloz: 1
Guy Wilks: 1
Stage wins in 2010 (manufacturers)
Skoda: 33
Peugeot: 32
M-Sport: 3

TV TIMES

Eurosport, Europe’s largest television sports channel, will show coverage from Rally d’Italia-Sardegna over the next few days. Highlights will also be available at www.rally-irc.com.
Monday 7 June
20:00-21:00: Live Sunday stage repeated, Eurosport Asia-Pacific
Tuesday 8 June
23:30-24:00: Rally review, Eurosport and Eurosport Asia-Pacific
Wednesday 9 June
12:00-12:30: Rally review, Eurosport2
Saturday 12 June
09:00-09:30: Rally review, Eurosport2

Paolo Andreucci will head a Peugeot one-two into the final day of Rally d’Italia-Sardegna tomorrow (Sunday) following a drama-filled opening leg of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier on the sun-baked Mediterranean island, when several drivers, including Sebastien Ogier, Andreas Mikkelsen and Guy Wilks hit trouble.
The Peugeot Sport Italia-run Andreucci, back competing in the IRC for the first time since Rallye Sanremo last September, made the most of his lowly starting position, which guaranteed a cleaner road surface, to take the lead on the day’s second stage only to drop behind defending IRC champion Kris Meeke on the very next run.
But a gamble to switch to a medium-compound tyre for the day-closing Monte Lerno stages, held in cooler temperatures, and coupled with his road position, paid dividends as the 45-year-old stormed ahead of his British rival with the fastest time on both tests after admitting he had gone on "full attack".
Meeke, driving a Peugeot UK-backed 207, had become the rally’s third different leader in as many stages when he swept in front with the fastest time on the second Monte Grighine stage, which was televised live on Eurosport. Co-driven by Irishman Paul Nagle, Briton Meeke extended his gap through the repeated Gonnosno stage but couldn’t replicate his earlier pace on Monte Lerno, which he put down to a combination of being too cautious on the slippery surface, sticking to the hard compound tyre and a slight power loss issue, which he said was reminiscent of the problem he suffered on Rally Argentina in March.
But while Andreucci and Meeke could reflect on strong opening days, Guy Wilks, was facing a night in hospital as he begins his recovery from two fractured vertebrae in his lower back, which he sustained when his Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000 left the road at high speed on the day’s first stage. The car sustained a heavy front-end impact as it hit a tree, vaulted a fence and careered over boulders before coming to rest 40 metres from the road. Co-driver Phil Pugh was uninjured but Wilks was flown by helicopter from the crash scene to hospital in Oristano where X-rays revealed the true extent of his injuries.

Paolo Andreucci leads in Sardinia on his IRC return

There was some positive news for Skoda, however, as factory drivers Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky reached the overnight halt in Olbia in third and fourth places respectively with Czech Republic’s Kopecky taking two stage victories. He could have challenged his Finnish team-mate but for a mistake on stage three when he cut a corner too tightly and inflicted sizable damage to his Fabia’s front-right corner striking a rock, which necessitated a rapid overhaul in service by his mechanics.
Hanninen was hampered by having to run first on the road for much of the day after Sebastien Ogier, who started first, initially stopped to change a punctured tyre on stage two before pulling up for good with an engine overheating problem in his Peugeot Italia 207.
Fifth-placed Thierry Neuville, tackling his first gravel rally in a four-wheel drive car, said he gained plenty of experience after an encouraging performance in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207. He is comfortably clear of sixth-placed Teemu Arminen, who heads the Italian Gravel Rally Championship standings and is the leading driver in a conventional Group N car following a solid showing in his Tommi Mäkinen Racing-built Subaru Impreza.
P-G Andersson dropped to 36th overall after picking up a front-right puncture 10 kilometres into Saturday’s first stage but fought his way back up to seventh, despite his intercom link to co-driver Anders Fredriksson suffering an intermittent failure on stage five.
Like Arminen, Luigi Ricci is also chasing Italian Gravel championship points and is in eighth place, despite not being happy with his driving on the Monte Lerno stages. The Brescia pilot has sampled several different cars this season but is tackling his third event in a Subaru Impreza N14.
Italian Daniele Batistini is ninth in a Peugeot 207, one place ahead of Bruno Magalhaes, who came within eight seconds of going over the time limit following delays leaving the midday service while his Peugeot Sport Portugal team hurried to rectify a major brake problem. He picked up 2m30s in time penalties for his troubles and now faces the prospect of starting Sunday’s stages first on the road because the top 10 finishing positions from day one are reversed for the final day.
A host of drivers will restart under SupeRally regulations on Sunday. They include Burcu Cetinkaya and Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who both failed to go the distance due to mechanical faults. Andreas Mikkelsen will also restart after a misheard pacenote caused him to roll his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 on the opening stage. However, Franz Wittmann won’t restart after rolling his Interwetten Racing 207.
Kaspar Koitla leads the IRC 2WD Cup in his Honda Civic Type R with Harry Hunt second in a Ford Fiesta R2, and Colin R Smith completing the top three in another Honda.

Juho Hanninen ran first on the road for much of the day

DRIVER QUOTES

Paolo Andreucci (Italy), Peugeot 207 S2000, first overall: "Today has been very good and I hope for the same tomorrow. Apart from when I got a puncture close to the end of the first stage when I hit a rock, we’ve had no problems and the car and the Pirelli tyres have been very good. I went on a full attack on the final two stages today and I push again tomorrow to try to win."
Kris Meeke (United Kingdom), Peugeot 207 S2000, second overall: "It was all going really well until the last two stages when we just couldn’t find the rhythm or the speed we had before. The stage times just weren’t there and it was the same feeling we had in Argentina when we also had a loss of power. It’s so frustrating but we must now get to the bottom of it because if everything is right we can win this."
Juho Hanninen (Finland), Skoda Fabia S2000, third overall: "I am satisfied because it really hasn’t been easy being the first car on the road. I had to be very careful because it was easy to make a mistake. To be only 11 seconds behind is not bad and with the boys not far away I have to push but I also can’t take any risks."

Kris Meeke is second overnight in Sardinia

TOP TEN IRC POSITIONS AFTER LEG ONE

1 Paolo Andreucci/Anna Andreussi Peugeot 207 S2000 1h13m34.2s
2 Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle Peugeot 207 S2000 +7.4s
3 Juho Hanninen/Mikko Markkula Skoda Fabia S2000 +11.3s
4 Jan Kopecky/Petr Stary Skoda Fabia S2000 +41.2s
5 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Klinger Peugeot 207 S2000 +2m55.4s
6 Teemu Arminen/Tuomo Nikkola Subaru Impreza WRX +3m46.3s
7 P-G Andersson/Anders Fredriksson Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X +5m31.7s
8 Luigi Ricci/Maurizio Barone Subaru Impreza WRX +5m35.4s
9 Daniele Batistini/Carlo Pisano Peugeot 207 S2000 +5m37.8s
10 Bruno Magalhaes/Carlos Magalhaes Peugeot 207 S2000 +6m24.0s

LEG TWO ITINERARY (SUNDAY 6 JUNE)

Service E: Olbia, 07:15hrs; SS8: Coiluna 1 (25.97kms), 09:00hrs; SS9: Terranova 1 (13.18kms), 10:09hrs; SS10: Coiluna 2 (25.97kms), 11:50hrs; Service F: Olbia, 14:00hrs; SS11: Monte Olia 1 (14.12kms), 15:21hrs; SS12: Terranova 2 (13.18kms), 16:05hrs; SS13: Monte Olia 2 (14.12kms), 16:54hrs; Service G: Olbia, 17:55hrs; Finish: Marina Vecchia, Porto Cervo, 19:00hrs.

TV TIMES

Eurosport, Europe’s largest television sports channel, will show four stages live on Sunday as follows:
08:30-09:45: SS8 (Coiluna 1), LIVE Eurosport and Eurosport Asia-Pacific
11:45-12:45: SS10 (Coiluna 2), LIVE Eurosport and Eurosport Asia-Pacific
Highlights of each day of the rally will also be available at www.rally-irc.com

Peugeot Sport director Olivier Quesnel hopes the addition of Sebastien Ogier to its ranks on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna this week will help to revitalise the French make’s bid for a fourth Intercontinental Rally Challenge manufacturers‘ title.
After the opening four rounds of this year’s IRC, Peugeot trails Skoda by 31 points having taken one victory to the two scored by its rival. However, in terms of stages won, Skoda drivers have been fastest through 28 stages this season while Peugeot’s representatives have triumphed on 25 occasions, proving Peugeot’s 207 and Skoda’s Fabia are evenly matched.
"For the drivers‘ title I am not anxious because I am sure Kris Meeke can do it again because the Peugeot is still a good car with a good performance," said Quesnel. "For the manufacturers‘ title Kris is a little bit alone because [the other Peugeot drivers] Bruno Magalhaes and Thierry Neuville are inexperienced in the IRC, so I don’t have any problem to ask Ogier to come help Peugeot get the title again."
Ogier won Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in 2009 at the wheel of a 207 S2000, his first appearance in the IRC. Since then he has become established in the World Rally Championship and competes in Sardinia on the back of winning the WRC-counting Rally de Portugal recently.

Peugeot expects big things from returning star Ogier

Hanninen prepared for tough challenge

Intercontinental Rally Challenge leader Juho Hanninen believes he has the pace to win Rally d’Italia-Sardegna this week but insists he won’t be taking anything for granted, and not just because of the extra opposition he will face on the island-based event.
The factory Skoda Motorsport driver, currently seven points clear in the title race, says the demanding nature of the stages, four of which will be shown live on Eurosport, will make for a very tough rally.
"I don’t know so much about the new stages but Sardinia is always demanding with hot weather and a lot of grip changes," said the Finn. "Sometimes you have a hard surface then in other places it is very sandy and quite slippery. It’s also narrow so it’s easy to make a mistake like hitting a rock by the side of the road."
Hanninen also pointed to the higher risk of punctures on the event due to the rough nature of some of the roads.
"It will be a risk but it doesn’t help if you are thinking about getting a puncture all the time and trying to be more careful as it is easier to get the puncture at that moment by being too careful," he said.

No Sardinia run for Czech Prokop

Martin Prokop won’t be on the starting ramp when Rally d’Italia-Sardegna gets underway on Friday night, despite having planned to enter the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier in his Ford Fiesta Super 2000.
Prokop’s car required an engine rebuild following its last rally and the work couldn’t be completed in time to enable the Czech to start the Olbia-based gravel event.
He said: "It’s bad news because I like this rally having done it for the last five years and was looking forward to competing there again. Unfortunately we have a problem with the engine and there is nothing I can do."
Prokop could still take part in this year’s IRC when the championship visits his home county for Barum Czech Rally Zlin from 27-29 August.
"It is not decided but I want to do more races and it is obviously a rally I would like to do so I hope to be there," added the 27-year-old.

There will be no Sardinia outing for Czech flyer Prokop

Interest builds in Cyprus Rally

Young Cypriot driver Nicos Thomas wants to drive a Super 2000 car on the final round of this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge, November’s FxPro Cyprus Rally.
The 22-year-old, who became the youngest ever winner of the gruelling gravel event in 2008, currently leads the Greek Rally Championship in a Mitsubishi Lancer IX.
He said: "I hope to find the funds to take part on the Cyprus Rally in either a Super 2000 car or my Mitsubishi. It would be great if I found sponsorship for two or three IRC rounds. In the IRC it is possible to finish on the podium if you have a fast car, that’s what the sponsors want."
The Cyprus Rally runs from 4-6 November. It will be followed, one day later, by the inaugural Golden Stage Rally, which will be contested over a single stage and offers a substantial prize fund to the winning crew.

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Paolo Andreucci fears that his knowledge of the stages won’t be enough to stave off the threat posed by the Intercontinental Rally Challenge regulars on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna next week.
Andreucci will drive a Peugeot Sport Italia 207 Super 2000 on the gravel event, round five of the 12-event IRC series, where his main opposition will include factory Skoda drivers Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky, plus fellow Peugeot runners Kris Meeke and Sebastien Ogier.
"I’m really excited by this rally, but I know that it’s going to be very tough as there will be so many good drivers," said the four-time Italian rally champion, who will be starting his first IRC event of 2010. "For me, to be honest, I think a podium will be difficult. But I would like to finish in the top five though and that is what I will be aiming for."
The 45-year-old continued: "I know some of the stages well and some I don’t know at all. The stages I know I like a lot: they are very tricky though, because there are lots of little things that can catch you out. I’ve done the [Sardinia-based] Costa Smeralda Rally every year, but I haven’t done the WRC event stages since 2004, when I did the rally in a Super 1600 Punto."

Paolo Andreucci is braced for a close battle in Sardinia

Pugh ready for Sardinia after China rally win

Phil Pugh took a break from his co-driving duties alongside Guy Wilks in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge to win the latest round of the Chinese championship, which he said was the perfect preparation for Rally d’Italia-Sardegna next week.
Pugh partnered fellow Briton Mark Higgins to victory on the Jiangning Rally in a Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. After returning to his home in Wales, Pugh said the trip to the Far East had been extremely beneficial.
"It was the first time I had done a rally in China and it was my first time with Mark so there was a lot to take on board," said Pugh. "Not only was it a good feeling to win but it’s definitely made me more on the ball for Sardinia because there was some good competition out in China and Mark uses a different pacenote system to Guy."
Pugh will be reunited with Wilks on the fifth round of the IRC in Sardinia. Before the event gets underway on 4 June, Wilks and Pugh will undertake a test on Monday (31 May) in their Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000.

Ypres organisers target 30 Super 2000 cars

Organisers of the Geko Ypres Rally, round six of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 24-26 June, are hopeful of attracting 30 Super 2000 cars for the asphalt event.
With a little more than two weeks to go until entries close for the 46th running of the rally, event manager Alain Penasse has confirmed there are already 27 S2000 cars on the provisional list of registrations with more in the pipeline.
"There is huge interest and it’s high quality also, which makes this a very exciting rally," said Penasse. "We have 27 Super 2000 cars and we’d very much like to breach the barrier of 30 cars, which would be the first time a rally has achieved that."
So far, 76 crews have entered the Belgian event, which can accommodate a total of 90 cars. Entries close at 24:00hrs on 11 June and organisers are urging competitors not to delay submitting their registrations based on the high level of interest.

There could be 30 S2000 cars in action on the Ypres Rally

New base for RACMSA Rally of Scotland

RACMSA Rally of Scotland will be based in the city of Perth when it runs for a second time from 15-17 October.
The penultimate round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge operated from Stirling last season but will now be housed at Perth Airport, where the event headquarters and main service park will also be located.
As in 2009, the event will get underway with two stages in the grounds of Scone Palace in the outskirts of Perth on the evening of Friday 15 October. In addition to two passes through the Craigvinean stage, Saturday’s opening leg will feature two runs through the Drummond Hill and Errochty tests, which were both used just once last year.
Sunday’s route takes in two passes of the Achray and Loch Ard stages split by a remote service halt in Callander. Loch Ard is the rally’s longest stage at 33.52 kilometres. The event’s total competitive distance is 208.08 kilometres.
Stirling will still play an active role in the rally as the host of the ceremonial finish on the evening of Sunday 17 October.

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Sebastien Ogier will make his return to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge when he contests Rally d’Italia-Sardegna next month.
Ogier, who was victorious on his IRC debut on Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo last season, will drive a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 on the demanding gravel event, which is based in Olbia from 4-6 June.
It will mark the Frenchman’s second appearance in the IRC in 2010 after he entered Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo for a second time back in January, only to retire on the final night while he was firmly in contention for a repeat victory.
Ogier is no stranger to the Sardinian stages, having contested the island’s world championship qualifier back in 2008 en route to winning the Junior world title that season.
In addition to Ogier, the Peugeot challenge in Sardinia will also be boosted by Paolo Andreucci. The four-time Italian champion will drive a similar 207 S2000 and will start as one of the pre-event favourites.

Sebastien Ogier will return to IRC duty in Sardinia

Skoda aces help launch Fabia RS road car

Skoda Motorsport team-mates Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky took time out of their preparations for Rally d’Italia-Sardegna, round five of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, to help launch the Czech firm’s Fabia RS road car.
Hanninen, who currently tops the IRC standings after finishing on the podium on the opening four rounds of the season, has been spending this week at the Sosnova circuit in Czech Republic trialling the Fabia RS, which is based on the S2000-specifiction machine he is using in the IRC. Team-mate Kopecky was present on Monday and Tuesday.
Other Skoda drivers who took part in the launch event include Skoda UK Motorsport’s Guy Wilks, Belgian ace Freddy Loix, who will contest selected rounds of the IRC in a Fabia, Spaniard Alberto Hevia and Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz, who finished third overall on Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo back in January at the wheel of a Fabia S2000.

Cetinkaya prepares for Sardinia with two-day test

Burcu Cetinkaya was due to complete a two-day test in France tomorrow (Friday) at the wheel of her Peugeot Sport Turkey 207 Super 2000.
The 29-year-old from Istanbul will contest at least seven rounds of this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge, starting with next month’s gravel-based Rally d’Italia-Sardegna.
Although the test took place on asphalt roads, Cetinkaya said she hoped that the test had given her vital experience of the 207.
"The test is really for the Ypres Rally [in June] but it is always good to spend as much time as possible in the car because there are still some things I have to learn," said Cetinkaya. "We will have a test on Sardinia just before the rally so I think we will be well prepared."
Cetinkaya called on Sebastien Ogier to offer guidance on set-up and driving during the test. The Frenchman has experience of driving the 207 S2000.

Proton team delays IRC start until Ypres

The factory Proton team will delay the start of its Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign until the Geko Ypres Rally after confirming it will skip next month’s Rally d’Italia-Sardegna.
Based in the United Kingdom, the MEM-run squad had planned to enter a brace of Satria Neo Super 2000s on the island event for Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae. It will now begin its programme on the asphalt-based round in Belgium from 24-26 June instead.
Team principal Chris Mellors said: "We had looked at starting our IRC programme in Sardinia but we’ve decided to go for Ypres instead. If we’d gone to Sardinia it would have seriously restricted the amount of asphalt testing we’d have been able to do with the car before Belgium. We felt it made more sense to focus on preparing the cars and drivers for Ypres, which is undoubtedly one of the classic European events."
Tom Cave, who had planned to drive a privately-run Satria Neo in Sardinia, has also elected to skip the gravel rally. The 18-year-old wants to get more experience of driving his Proton away from the rigours of a two-day IRC qualifier so will contest a national event in his native Wales instead.

The Proton team will start its 2010 IRC bid in Belgium

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Competitors from the Intercontinental Rally Challenge have revealed their delight at the news that Eurosport will show four stages of Rally d’Italia-Sardegna live.
Europe’s largest television sports channel will screen approximately six hours of coverage from the gravel-based event, which runs from 4-6 June, including live footage of the Monte Grighine stages on Saturday and the Coiluna tests on Sunday.
Paul Nagle, who co-drove Kris Meeke to the IRC title in 2009, said: "It’s not only good news for the event but also for the IRC and everyone involved. Eurosport’s onboard camera footage is brilliant for the fans watching at home and gives them a real hands-on experience of what it’s like to take part in an IRC rally."
Franz Wittmann, who drives an Interwetten Racing-run Peugeot 207 in the IRC, said: "The Eurosport coverage is one of the main reasons why my sponsor can justify bringing money into rallying. It’s also the best way to bring the sport to the people."

Eurosport will show live four stages from Sardinia’s IRC qualifier

Andersson to make IRC debut in Sardinia

Former double Junior world champion P-G Andersson will make his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna next month.
The Swede, 30, will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X for the British JRM operation. It is the same car Gwyndaf Evans used to win the British championship-counting Pirelli Rally in April.
"It will be the first time I’ve driven the Evo X in competition although I will get a short test in Sweden tomorrow [Friday]," said Andersson. "I own an Evo IX, which I’ve driven on a few events at home, so it will be interesting to see the differences between the two cars."
Highly-rated, Andersson was a factory Suzuki driver in the World Rally Championship until the Japanese make quit the sport at the end of 2008. More recently, Andersson has driven a Skoda Fabia S2000 in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship as well as testing a Ford Focus WRC for the factory-blessed M-Sport team.
Andersson is no stranger to Sardinia’s demanding gravel roads, having tackled the Olbia-based rally five times in the past when it counted as a round of the WRC. His best result is ninth overall, which he achieved in a Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 car in 2004 and in a Suzuki SX4 WRC in 2008.

Cave satisfied after Sardinia test run

Tom Cave got his preparations for Rally d’Italia-Sardegna underway with a successful test in Wales recently.
Cave will contest at least six rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in a Proton Satria Neo Super 2000, starting with the island event from 4-6 June.
The 18-year-old British driver covered approximately 80 kilometres during the test, which he described as "constructive".
He added: "The stage we used was a bit rough, dry and dusty so a reasonable start for Sardinia. We started tweaking the settings to work towards a base set-up for the rally and I didn’t feel out of my depth in the car at all. In fact, the harder you work it, the better it is."
Cave, who will be co-driven by fellow Welshman Craig Parry, has already tackled one round of the IRC this season, taking a Ford Fiesta ST to eighth place in the IRC 2WD Cup section of Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in January.

Tom Cave has begun his preparations for round five of the IRC

Format change for Rallye Sanremo

Rallye Sanremo will feature asphalt stages only when it runs as round 10 of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 23-25 September.
The organisers, Automobile Club Sanremo (ACS), had planned to run a mixture of asphalt and gravel stages but cost implications have forced them to stick to an all-Tarmac format for the 52nd running of the famous rally.
Sergio Maiga, the ACS president, said: "Maybe we could have carried out the idea to bring Rallye Sanremo back to [the gravel stages of] Siena, but in order to do that we would have been obliged to reduce costs in sectors like safety, where we are not willing to accept any compromise.
"Furthermore we wouldn’t be able to solve any of the economic problems that a race, like the one we had in mind, would have entailed for the teams that will take part in the event and, even more, for the several private drivers that are always showing their affection to our race.
"A leg on gravel and another one on asphalt would have made necessary a change of car set-up during the race and therefore an increase in costs."

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Juho Hanninen admits his impressive start to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge season has put him in a strong position to win the coveted drivers‘ crown.
Hanninen, from Finland, moved into a seven-point title lead following his second-place finish on Rally Islas Canarias last week.
The factory Skoda Motorsport driver has finished in the podium on the first four IRC events of the season and won Rally Argentina back in March.
He said: "We have a good situation with the points but I don’t think so much to that because there is still a long way to go until the end of the season. We have more points now than we did for all of 2009 but we still have to think rally by rally and not get carried away."
Hanninen also pointed to the threat defending IRC champion Kris Meeke posed, adding: "Okay he is far behind in the points but we know how fast he is and I believe he will be strong by the end of the year."

Juho Hanninen is seven points clear in the IRC standings

Magalhaes satisfied with Canarias performance

Bruno Magalhaes says he was satisfied with his run to fifth overall on Rally Islas Canarias last week, a result that extends his point-scoring sequence to four consecutive Intercontinental Rally Challenge events.
Magalhaes was fourth heading into the final stage of the event but fell behind the rapid Kris Meeke at the completion of the test. However, the result was enough to elevate him to fifth in the IRC drivers‘ standings, two points behind defending champion Meeke.
"Of course I scored points but more important for me is that I proved I can fight with the faster guys," said the 29-year-old, who reported losing time early on the rally with a transmission glitch. "My car is not perfect yet because we completely destroyed the tyres on the long stage but I am satisfied with this result."
Magalhaes will return to IRC action on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna next month in his Peugeot Sport Portugal 207.

Barrios claims Subaru Individual Award

Jose Barrios has become the latest winner of the Subaru Individual Award.
The Spaniard landed the accolade following a strong performance on Rally Islas Canarias, round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, in his Impreza WRX last weekend.
Barrios, the only Subaru Impreza driver in action on the demanding island event, took on a host of Mitsubishi Lancer-mounted pilots and finished up as the second-best Group N finisher in ninth overall.
The Subaru Individual Award is presented on each of the 12 IRC rounds this year to the highest-placed Subaru finisher and demonstrates the support that Subaru will extend to its customer drivers in the IRC in 2010.
Swiss Olivier Burri (Monte Carlo), Juan San Martin (Curitiba) and Gabriel Pozzo (Argentina) are the other Subaru Individual Award winners so far this season.

Jose Barrios was the top Subaru finisher in Gran Canaria

Wilks set for Rally d’Italia-Sardegna run

Skoda UK Motorsport has confirmed it will enter Guy Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna next month.
The Italian-run team is entering the British pair on seven rounds of this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge in a Fabia Super 2000.
Wilks said: "We’ve got to push for a win in Sardinia where I know we can be competitive. We’ve got a bit of a breather now before Sardinia, so we aim to make the most of that time to prepare well. I know in myself that I and the Fabia can gel a little bit better and better results can come. That’s what we’re aiming for."
Wilks his currently equal second in the IRC drivers‘ standings following his third consecutive podium finish of the season on Rally Islas Canarias last weekend.

Rally d’Italia-Sardegna media contact

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge resumes with Rally d’Italia-Sardegna, a new addition to the IRC calendar for 2010, from 4-6 June. Event-specific information is available from Luca Bartolini, the rally’s media officer, by emailing info@rallyitaliasardegna.com. Holders of a current IRC Permanent Press Credential do not need to apply for individual event accreditation.

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