The Rally Italia Sardegna, Italy’s prestigious round of the FIA Rally World Championship gets underway this evening with the first special stage to be held on the Alghero seafront and on the starting ramp will be Andrea Nori from Bassano del Grappa and Sofia Peruzzi from Montecchio Maggiore, both 22 years old and the winners of the fifth edition of the “Aci Rally Italia Talent” which is sponsored by Abarth.
It will be a dream come true for the young crew who will be driving an official Abarth 500 R3T, seeded #92 on what is regarded as one of the toughest rallies of the World Rally Championship season with a total distance of 1,389 kilometres and 317 kilometres of these being timed.
The special show stage on Circuito di Ittiri scheduled for 1800 (local time) this evening kicks off the fifteenth edition of the rally and will be followed by a further nineteen stages split over the three legs of the rally tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday all on the demanding dusty dirt roads of the north west of Sardinia Alghero.
Two former champions will be at the side of the two newcomers to tutor them during the rally. Giandomenico Basso and Gigi Pirollo were both members the “Dream Team” panel that evaluated the “Aci Rally Italia Talent” contestants.
Driving an official Abarth entry on the Rally Italia Sardegna 2018 was the top prize won by Andrea Nori and Sofia Peruzzi, the outright winners of the contest. The competition was a remarkably success: 7,338 contestants, over 20,000 trials, 100,000 kilometres driven and nearly 200,000 spectators.
They won’t be the only Abarth 500 R3T on the rally though as seeded at #91 are Giovanni di Luigi and Barbara Diodato, making it two cars bidding for victory in the RC3/R3T category.
