The drivers entered in the Italian championship will have another chance to climb to the top of Europe. Just over ten days from the football victory, the Italian flag is ready to be waved high in the highest European rally competition. Football aside, the time has come for the Rally di Roma Capitale that will get underway from July 23rd to 25th. The ninth edition of the event organized by Motorsport Italia is ready to stage the double challenge valid for the Sparco Italian Rally Championship and FIA European Rally Championship.

The round in Rome is a fixed appointment for the highest national series that will contest its fifth round of the season and the European series at its third act. This event will bring the spectacle of rallying in the Rome city centre before moving to the Fiuggi area. This event will also be valid for the new Rally di Roma Capitale Cup, which hosts the same competition and single-make trophies like the newly introduced Toyota Yaris GR Cup. A total of 119 cars will be present, 44 of which in the highest class, R5, ready to compete on a total liasion of 731,04 km and 190,09 competitive on 13 tests.

THE PROGRAM IN A NUTSHELL | All the action will be available through the TV Channels ACI Sport and Eurosport. The network of the Federation (sky ch 228) is also available online at www.acisport.it and Facebook @ACISportTV. It will show an intense program starting on Friday evening with the opening ceremony in Castel Sant’Angelo followed by the new and fascinating Power Stage around the Terme di Caracalla from 20. The beauties of Rome that are the setting of this test will be also broadcast by RAI Sport. The event's live coverage will continue also on the intense days of Saturday and Sunday with constant images from the stages and the most important areas of the event. Three sections have been devised for each of the two days and each loop will be repeated two times. On Saturday, the “Rocca di Cave” (7,25 km) [at 9.53 and 14.26] will be followed by the “Rocca Santo Stefano” (19,70 km) [at 10.10 and 14.33] while the loop will be closed by the “Affile-Bellegra” in two different versions (7,34 km on the first pass, and 2,94km on the second) [at 11.05 and 16.35]. The longest and most intense day will be on Sunday. The competition will kick off with the “Fiuggi-Guarcino” (19,87 km) [at 7.45, 13.09 and 17.15] that will be the only test to be repeated three times. The “Collepardo” (10,62km) [at 8.36 and 14.00] will be followed by the longest stage of the rally “Santopadre-Arpino” (21,17km) [at 9.43 and 15.13].

THE BEST OF EUROPE | More than one-hundred cars will be handed to the best drivers of the two series and the Rally di Roma Capitale announces to be another great show. The past few editions have always produced exciting duels that often continued until the final corners and the Italian drivers have been challenging the big names of ERC. Such scenery is likely to repeat this time around too, as the best foreign drivers will be present like the multiple-champion from Russia Alexey Lukyanuk, who won the title in 2018 and 2020 and is currently leading the European Championship in the Citroen C3 R5. The Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen in the Skoda Fabia R5, is contesting the World Championship as the other Russian Nikolay Gryazin in the Volkswagen Polo R5. These are just a few of the big international names present in a rally that counts 24 represented nations. The foreign drivers will be transparent for the Sparco Italian Rally Championship, except the Irish driver Craig Breen. The Hyundai Motorsport driver and his co-driver Paul Nagle will in fact compete in both championships in their i20 R5.

The drivers of the Italian championship will fight an important battle for the CIR Sparco as this event will have a coefficient 1.5. The new classification leader Fabio Andolfi and his co-driver Stefano Savoia will try and get the most of the home race for Motorsport Italian and will try to take their first win of the season in the Fabia R5. Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai lost the classification lead in their Czech R5 but will try to bounce back in a rally that he won in 2019 and where he claimed 5 podiums in 6 participations. The reigning champion Andrea Crugnola has to fight back in a tough season in which he scored two consecutive DNFs with Pietro Ometto in the Hyundai i20 R5. Last year they were out early on and then dominated the second phase.

Meanwhile, the other drivers of ACI Team Italia are making big steps forward and have always been among the top drivers in the Italian Championship. Among these, Tommaso Ciuffi will be back after their absence in San Marino and with his co-driver Nicolò Gonella they will chase the top of the CIR Asphalt in their Polo R5. The DNF did not cancel another strong performance by Damiano De Tommaso and Giorgia Ascalone that will try to score some more points in their C3 R5. The other Motorsport Italia driver Andrea Mazzocchi and Silvia Gallotti in the Fabia R5 scored a good result on the gravel, but this time around he will have to face the challenge of the specialists of asphalt like Giacomo Scattolon and co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini in the Polo R5.

A lot of drivers of the CIRA will be back for this round. A lot are already featuring a great shape like Marco Signor, who won on the home turf of the Rally della Marca, with Patrick Bernardi in the Volkswagen Polo R5. The other drivers will compete in the Skoda Fabia R5, as ACI Team Italia’s Marco Pollara, who comes from the victory of the Zone Rally Cup at Nebrodi with Daniele Mangiarotti and Alessio Profeta with Sergio Raccuia, Antonio Rusce with Sauro Farnocchia, the home hero Liberato Sulpizio and co-driver Alessio Angeli and the Women pairing made by Patrizia Perosino and co-driver Veronica Verzoletto.

Several Italian drivers are a constant presence in the European championship. They have already been appreciated this year in the Italian Gravel Trophy and will be outsiders at the CIR Sparco but will be entitled to “steal” some points from the drivers entered in the Italian Championship. Umberto Scandola, this time with Danilo Fappani in the Hyundai i20 R5, knows well the Rally di Roma Capitale as he won it two times, while Simone Campedelli, with Tania Canton in the Polo R5, already took part in six editions of the rally. Less experience but a lot of talent for the ACI Team Italia’s driver Alberto Battistolli and co-driver Simone Scattolin in the Skoda Fabia R5, who has displayed great shape last weekend at the Rally della Marca.

CIR JUNIOR | The streets of the Italian Rally Junior Championship lead to Rome. The 11 crews of ACI Team Italia will be at an important appointment in the fourth of the six scheduled rallies. This is going to be the first Junior round with a coefficient of 1.5 and will kick off the sprint to the finish towards the closing rounds of Rally 1000 Miglia and Liburna Terra, with the latter being the final round and will have increased coefficient again. The Capital is a crucial turning point, another chance for the Under 27 drivers to get the most of the technical management of the home team Motorsport Italia. Emanuele Rosso and Andrea Ferrari are the classification leaders and enjoy 11 points more than Giorgio Cogni with Gabriele Zanni and Mattia Vita with Max Bosi, which are equal on points in the second position. The others are not far though as five drivers are within a handful of points. Marcel Porliod and André Perrin are constantly scoring points and Roberto Daprà is putting in a crescendo of results winning the gravel round in San Marino. The latter will have Chiara Lombardi at the notes this time around. Riccardo Pederzani with Daniel Pozzi, Guglielmo De Nuzzo with Andrea Colapietro and the winner of Sanremo Alessandro Casella with Rosario Siragusano, that have been affected by some bad luck on the gravel, follow within 3 points. Davide Porta and Andrea Segir also could not finish the last rally, while Francesco Lovati with Giacomo Ciucci and Andrea Piccardo with Luca Migone are building some experience.

CIR 2WD | All the top drivers hunting for the Italian 2WD championship will be present like Andrea and Giuseppe Nucita, that are leading the classification and are chasing another win on an international stage in their official Peugeot 208 Rally4. The others are not there just to watch and are trying to close in. Fabio Farina managed to do that in the most recent round and will try to do the same in Rome in his French R2 with Luca Gulgielmetti, Christopher Lucchesi Jr. with Titti Ghilardi will be present as the leader of the CIR Asphalt 2WD after a round of absence with the livery of ACI Team Italia on his 208. Nicola Cazzaro and Giovanni Brunaporto, Jacopo Trevisani and Fabio Grimaldi will also be present on a similar car. Daniele Campanaro and Irene Porcu will compete in the Ford Fiesta Rally 4.

THE GR YARIS RALLY CUP IS HERE| This is going to be the debut of the GR Yaris Rally Cup. The new single-make trophy of the Japanese brand and organized by Toyota Motor Italia will see 11 R1T 4x4 National cars challenging each other in the first of the five scheduled rounds. From Rome, to the 1000 Miglia, to the Rally Due Valli with the CIR Sparco and then the National Final ACI Sport Rally Cup Italia at the Rally Città di Modena and Rally di Monza. This is going to be an adrenaline calendar that promises to deliver spectacle. Some known names are Simone Rivia, who has been already among the protagonists of the Italian R1, Ilario Bondioni who has been competing on R5 and R2 in CIRA, and the experienced Marco Gianesini, while other drivers are rookies like Angelo Grossi, who is the son of “Pucci” the legend of gravel rallies in Italy. This first round is going to be very interesting and will be run on the same path of the main event.

CIR SPARCO CLASSIFICATION: 1. Andolfi 46,5pt; 2.Basso 43pt; 3.Breen 41pt; 4.Albertini 31pt; 5.Ciuffi 23pt; 6.Crugnola 19pt; 7.Michelini – De Tommaso18pt; 9.Mazzocchi 9pt; 10. Signor - Scattolon 7pt;

CIR JUNIOR CLASSIFICATION: 1.Rosso 44pt; 2.Cogni-Vita 33pt; 4. Porliod 26pt; 5. Daprà 25pt;

CIR SPARCO 2021 CALENDAR: RALLY DEL CIOCCO E VALLE DEL SERCHIO | March 12-13; RALLYE SANREMO | April 10-11; RALLY TARGA FLORIO | May 8-9; SAN MARINO RALLY - coeff. 1,5 | June 26-27; RALLY DI ROMA CAPITALE - coeff. 1,5 | July 24-26; RALLY 1000 MIGLIA | September 4-5; RALLY 2VALLI | October 9-10; LIBURNA TERRA - coeff. 1,5 | November 6-7