The WRC World Rally Championship is preparing to return to Sardinia, based in Alghero, from 30 May to 2 June . The 21st edition of the Rally Italia Sardegna, organized by the ACI with the support of the Region, will be valid for the sixth round of the WRC, WRC2, WRC3 and Junior championships and will have 87 crews at the start including all the protagonists of the fight for the title, but also 18 Juniors, 43 priority. Crews of 34 different nationalities will be competing, including 21 Italians, 8 of whom are Sardinian. 260 timed km planned, divided into 16 special stages to be covered in 48 hours. On Thursday 30th the parade, on Friday 31st the shakedown in Ittiri and, at 1.30pm, the departure from Alghero, where the event will end at 3.30pm on Sunday 2nd with the awards ceremony.

The presentation

Yesterday, in Rome, the RIS 2024 was presented to the press. The president of the Automobile Club of Italy, Angelo Sticchi Damiani , has always reiterated the uniqueness of the Sardinian dirt roads that host the special stages and the importance of the relationship with the Region: “Many things have happened in these twenty years. The choice to move the Rally d'Italia from Liguria to Sardinia was a complex undertaking, difficult to achieve, but in the end it proved successful. We managed to achieve the objective thanks to the Sardinia Region, which contributed substantially to supporting the burdens and costs, since it would not have been possible alone".

Tourism, visibility and related industries.

«Despite people believing the opposite, Sardinia is one of the least touristy regions in Italy, in tenth place in the ranking. Tourism accounts for 8% of Sardinia's GDP while it accounts for 12% of the national GDP. This is why we want to try to expand the tourist season and the Region has chosen sport as a driving force", underlined the regional councilor for Tourism, Crafts and Commerce, Franco Cuccureddu : "As a former mayor I can say that dirt roads are not easy to be maintained, nevertheless we resist also because the regional landscape plan prohibits us from asphalting the dirt roads and demolishing the dry stone walls. But the interest in preserving the dirt roads is also encouraged by the desire to keep the Rally d'Italia in Sardinia and guarantee a route that has few comparisons even at an international level. We expect to see beautiful images from the media, as has been widely done in the past, which will maximize the promotional advertising investment made for our island which we expect to maintain for a long time."

Giulio Pes di San Vittorio, president of Aci Sport Spa and Ac Sassari, recounted an episode: «The president of the Regional Council of Sardinia Piero Comandini recently reminded me that in Sardinia we have two sporting excellences, the world rally and Luna Rossa. A fundamental recognition also for the investments made in recent years by Aci and for the impact it has on the territory, which we will monitor once again this year thanks to an ad hoc study by the University of Sassari. In addition to the Rally Italia Sardegna, many other events have been supported by the Region so we hope that they will be supported in the future too. I also thank the prefecture of Sassari and all the police forces who supported us during the demonstration."

«I always say that we play with toy cars to produce value, and currently these bring the average value certified by Nielsen for the Ris to 13 million euros. This year in just 48 hours there will be an exciting battle over 266 timed km, a challenge that was taken up by 87 members, a number for which many crews, especially Sardinian and amateur ones, risked being left out, without some measures studied with the federation international", explained Antonio Turitto, General Manager of Ris . «We will have fixed cameras that will monitor the public during the tests, and then sensors provided to us by a Sardinian company to be able to better manage security. I thank the Municipalities and the public and private bodies that collaborate with us, and we are very sorry when we have to say no to someone, and the Italian Army which will be with us on the final day of 2 June".

Alghero and the alternation with Olbia

«I want to thank president Sticchi Damiani for his willingness to support and want the world rally in Sardinia, an excellence that we must maintain by trying to raise more and more awareness in the territories thanks to the important and fundamental support of the Aci organization» he concluded Mario Conoci, mayor of Alghero . «Sporting events create tourism and economic promotion, Alghero has hosted many sporting events, but the WRC remains the flagship event for our city, which we have shared alternating with Olbia, a collaboration which is a beautiful demonstration of how our island aims to grow all together, because our competitors are elsewhere in Italy and abroad. We are waiting for you in Sardinia to enjoy this show."

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