The 34th rally "Il Ciocco e Valle Del Serchio” opens the 2011 Italian Rally Championship

The rally Il Ciocco is scheduled for next 24 – 26 March.

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08/03/2011 – The first official act of the 34th rally "Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio” has been the opening of enterings last 23rd of February – closure set for Saturday 19 March (with Monday 14 March deadline for regular fee subscriptions); the rally is back this year to open the most awaited and always thrilling Italian Rally 2011 championship, the most important rally series in Italy. The rally Il Ciocco is scheduled for next 24 – 26 March, with headquarters based at the Ciocco Hotels and Resort, and will have the Media Valle and Garfagnana as historic rallying theaters. Due to the long rallying tradition of the place and the popularity of the series, a permanent museum (the first dedicated to a rally) named "Ciocco Rally Celebrity ”, located within the Ciocco Hotels and Resort complex, has been created and inaugurated in occasion of the thirty anniversary of this historic race. This initiative collects interesting pieces from the past, on show within the exhibition halls and is destined to grow over time. VALIDITY OF THE RALLY IL CIOCCO E VALLE DEL SERCHIO The 34th rally Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio, first of the eight races making up the Italian Rally 2011 Championship, opens the hunt for the Drivers and Constructors Italian title and the Production and Junior titles, with the latter reserved to the young Italian talents and benefitting from an important support from Csai. This rally also opens the fight for the title of champion in the Csai Indepentents, Two Wheel Drive, Ladies and Grand Touring Cars championships. Super 200 cars equipped with a turbo engine 1600 cc with air-flow reduced to 30mm, that is Regional Rally cars, derived from the new Wrc challengers, will also be admitted to this rally, as well as in the other races of the Cir circuit, but they will not be awarded any point valid for the classification. Another important novelty is the coefficient 2 for the points awarded to the Challenge 6th Zone which will double the points scored at the end of the two stages of the rally Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio. "Ciocco race” is the new promotion dedicated to the drivers entered in the two series "Open Rally Aci Csai Tuscan Championship” and "Aci Lucca Trophy”. They will benefit from a 20% discount on the entering fee for rally Il Ciocco, while the winners of the two categories "over 1401cc” and "under 1400cc” will receive the full reimbursement of the entering fee and will have the chance to win other prices still to be decided. THE CLIO R3 TOP TROPHY Being one of the reference single-brand trophies in terms of popularity, prizes and official technical assistance and breeding ground for champions, the Clio R3 Top Trophy has been inserted in the Italian Rally Championship and schedules five rounds, one short of 2010 season (Ciocco, 1000 Miglia, Salento, Alpi Orientali and San Martino) with four results making up the final classification. To these, a money prize has to be added also for the Targa Florio, important race for young drivers aiming also at the Italian Junior Championship. The global money prize amounts to over than 190.000 euros in cash and Pirelli tyres. RACING SCHEDULE (LOCAL TIME GMT+1) The rally Il Ciocco goes live on Wednesday 23 March with track patrols for crews. Technical and sportive verifications will take place on Thursday 24 March at Ciocco, with patrolling of the last stage, while the shakedown is scheduled between 12.00 and 16.00. The 34th rally Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio will then start at 18.01 with the opening ceremony in Barga's city center, while the actual stages will start on Friday 25 March at 8.01 with Stage 1 ending at Ciocco at 19.00. Stage 2 will set off from Ciocco on Saturday 26 March and will have live coverage on Italian TV RaiSport2. The end of the race is due at 17.30 in Castelnuovo Garfagnana. RALLY AND SOLIDARITY: THE COLLABORATION WITH LUCCA'S ADMO The rally Il Ciocco has often been associated with important charity initiatives. This year the race is going to be linked with ADMO, Bone Marrow Donors Association (www.admo.it), which will give to everyone interested all the information on bone marrow donation, a really useful act for treating acute and chronic leukemia, marrow deficiency, mieloma and other blood related diseases. At a provincial level, ADMO will be represented by the branch located in Lucca that operates through the "Centro Trasfusionale” of Lucca's hospital (i.e. the blood transfusion center in Lucca) and the "Centri Prelievi” of Barga and Castelnuovo Garfagnana. In occasion of the rally Il Ciocco, a stand will be present with volunteers from ADMO prov. Lucca near sportive verification center and the assistance park.