The event kicks off on Thursday June 9 with shakedown, Starting Ceremony and the Super Special Stage at the Ittiri Arena. Eight tests will complete the first leg on Friday while six stages are awaited on Saturday for the longest day of the 2016 World Rally Championship. Sunday’s Podium Ceremony will be held at 13:45 in Alghero
Alghero (SS), June 8, 2016. City of Alghero and Sardinia are ready to host the 13th edition of Rally Italia Sardegna, sixth round of the 2016 World Rally Championship from June 9 to 12 with the major protagonists of the series. Starting with three-time French world champion and Rally Italia Sardegna winner Sebastien Ogier: “We have to be realistic – Volkswagen Polo R WRC driver said -; it will be difficult to win here because I will open the road on the stages making them cleaner for those behind me. So, at the moment, a podium finish would be a very good result. Even if it has been entirely moved to the north of the island, the rally is still beautiful, I like the stages and the new, Tula and Argentiera, are very tricky”. Last year young new zealander Hayden Paddon threatened Ogier’s win until he had to slow down with a gearbox issue and he came in second place overall: “My goal is the podium – Hyundai i20 New Generation WRC driver commented -; I will try my best, but it would already be a good result. The rally is a little less technical compared to last year. However, we will face technical stages again, as Tergu, that I really like. The Power Stage is very interesting and spectacular for TV’s audience”. Among the major contenders there is also 2009 Rally Italia Sardegna winner Jari-Matti Latvala: “Most of the competition will be decided on Saturday’s Monte Lerno test – Volkswagen Finn said -. It remains a technical rally, with some new and tricky stages. In my opinion on the first part of the rally it will be very difficult to reach the right rhythm, especially at Ardara and Tula. The new Power Stage is very spectacular tough it has a quite soft surface in the last kilometers, the ones closer to the sea”.
Rally Italia Sardegna will kick off on Thursday with the 3.69 km shakedown at Olmedo-Monte Baranta scheduled, for Priority drivers, from 7:00 to 9:30hrs. In the evening Alghero will host the Starting Ceremony at 17:00hrs, followed by the 2 km Super Special Stage at the Ittiri Arena at 18:00hrs. Starting two by two, the 49 entered crews will challenge each other on a circuit that will be repeated twice. After “Ittiri Arena Show”, competition will restart on Friday June 10th with eight stages (four to be repeated twice) in the Logudoro and Anglona areas, for a total of 102.86 km. Following Ardara-Ozieri (km 7.50) and the completely new Tula (km 15), drivers will face the Castelsardo stage (km 14.02) and Tergu-Osilo (km 14.91) before heading back to Alghero for the mid-day service park. Crews will challenge the four stages again in the afternoon also passing through Sassari city center before closing the day back in Alghero at 19:00hrs.
Saturday, June 11 will be the longest day of the 2016 World Rally Championship so far featuring six tests for a total competitive distance of 177.70 km. This leg will be entirely located in the Monte Acuto region. It will start from the Monti di Alà special stage (km 22.20), followed by Coiluna-Loelle (km 22.39) and by the classic Monte Lerno test, that, once again, will be the longest one with its 44.26 km. A second loop on the same stages will follow the mid-day service park in Alghero before ending the day at 20:40hrs. F inal leg of the rally will take place on Sunday, June 12. It will feature 42.04 competitive kilometers, split in four stages: two passages through Cala Flumini (km 14.06) and two through the new stage of Sassari-Argentiera (km 6.96) which is also the new final Power Stage with worldwide live coverage. Podium Ceremony will end the event at 13:45hrs in the harbour area of Alghero.
WRC Promoter intends to boost Italian distribuition of WRC +, the service that keeps fans updated with the World Rally Championship through its website and live streaming of several special stages. All Italian fans will have this application free for a month simply subscribing a new account at https://plus.wrc.com/ using the promo code IT2016 .
World Rally Championship will also have Rally Sardegna Historic as a side event where two-time world champion Miki Biasion will compete on a Lancia Delta Integrale.
WRC 2016 Calendar: jan 21-24 Rallye Monte-Carlo – snow/asphalt; feb 11-14 – Rally Sweden – snow; mar 3-6 Rally México – gravel; apr 21-24 Rally Argentina – gravel; may 19-22 Rally de Portugal – gravel ; june 9-12 – 13º Rally Italia Sardegna – gravel ; june 30-july 3 Rally Poland – gravel; july 28-31 Rally Finland – gravel; aug 18-21 Rallye Deutschland – asphalt ; sept. 8-11 Rally China – asphalt; sept-29-oct.2 Tour de Corse – asphal; oct. 13-16 Rally RACC Catalunya – asphalt/gravel; oct. 27-30 Wales Rally GB – gravel; nov. 17-20 Rally Australia – gravel.
