After the plunge into the crowd at the starting ceremony held last night at 8pm in the heart of Palermo, the interpreters of the third round of the Italian Rally Championship and National Rally Trophy have set off from the Piazza Duomo of Cefalù. The lineups of the Historic Cars Rally Championship will get underway from Termini Imerese's Piazza Duomo at 9.25 (local time) instead.

CIR drivers will be called to go through ten stages, three timed stages to be repeated three times and the spectacle stage "Collesano” that will end day one at 20.44 in Termini Imerese. The arrival will be proceeded by the catwalk of the "Flying Dean” Nino Vaccarella at the wheel of the legendary Alfa 33 that he took to the win of 1971 edition of the oldest race in the world.

Stages: "Targa" (9,70km) scheduled at 9:04, 12:49, 16:34; "Lascari" (9,20km) at 10:08, 13:53, 17:38; "Cefalù" (7,30) at 10:27, 14:12, 17:57; "Collesano" (1,35) at 19:09 in the Targa Florio Village, located at the Villaggio Mareluna of Campofelice di Roccella, regroupings are scheduled for 11.00, 14.45 and 18.45 while service parks at 11.30, 15.15 and 19.29. Historic Cars effort will end at about 19.14 in Cefalù's Piazza Duomo.

The Skoda Fabia Super 2000 of the reigning Italian Champion Umberto Sandola and Guido D'Amore will feature the number one on its sides. The first of the historic cars will be the three times Targa Florio Rally winner Totò Riolo on the Audi Quattro with Maurizio Marin at the notes.

The comment of some protagonists of the Sicilian Rally before the start from Palermo.

SCANDOLA, Skoda Fabia S2000: "This rally is as difficult and bumpy as it is nice due to the very warm fans. This is going to be a very nice championship and it will be important to score points and get to the finish flag."

ANDREUCCI, Peugeot 208 T16: "The improvement of the car keeps on. Reliability is certain and we changed a pipe for water recovery. We think we can be competitive, but tomorrow we will see where we stand. We had done a good job so far."

SCATTOLON Peugeot 208 R2 : "This race is new and special. I will try to keep the same pace I had so far without pushing. I mainly keep an eye to the Championship. Inconveniences are always behind the corner but we are calm. The asphalt here is different. I will find my pace."

PERICO, Peugeot 207 S2000: "The championship started in a bad way, I'd need a good result here. I have never been particularly fast here, but let's see what happens."

BASSO, Ford Fiesta R5 LDI: "We hope in a good race unlike the previous ones. We did a test, the race is quite tricky and we have not been racing here for two years. Let's hope to start on the right foot."

CAMPEDELLI, Ford Fiesta R5: "I enjoyed being back to the CIR. I am among the very few lucky to be running on these nice cars. There are a lot of very strong drivers here. We did only 50km of testing but we will try and do our best. I am the weakest link of the team as team and car are strong."

NUCITA, Peugeot 207 S2000: "We will focus on the Targa, race for which we feel the warmth of fans. We will have to give our best to get a good result."

ANDOLFI J. , Renault New Clio R3: "We will be fighting both for the Clio Trophy and the Italian Production, where we are at the lead. Let's try and do our best. The spectacle here surprised me. Tomorrow's stages are going to be quite tough as they are bumpy and the asphalt changes quite a lot the grip, we will have to correct some notes."

MICHELINI, Citroen DS3 R5: "The car is very nice. I run the Rally of Valdinievole to clock some kms and to discover other problems. We are testing but the car goes well. I do not know much the Targa Florio as I came here only in 2009 with the 207. We will try and get a good result."

ALBERTINI, Peugeot 208 R2: "Starting from here is very good, this has been quite an unlucky season start. We did not harvest much but we are still hopeful. The race is quite special and very slippery. The first lap is not going to be easy, but then we will push."