The sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia for Rally Italia, the third of six consecutive gravel events. Sanremo was the original base for Italy’s round of the series and the event was previously known as the Rally of the Flowers when it was first held in 1928. It has a long history in the WRC, having been included in the Championship back in 1973. 

Since moving to Sardinia in 2004, the challenge has changed from a mixed surface event to an all-gravel affair, now based out of the west coast town of Alghero. Fast and narrow stages lined with vegetation leave little room for error, and while the roads have a hard base, the loose sandy surface gets swept away during the first passage of cars leaving tricky rutted conditions during the second run. This, coupled with high early summer temperatures on the picturesque island, make for another challenging round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

THE 2016 ROUTE

This year’s event features four new stages since 2015; Tula, Castelsardo, Tergu-Osilo and Sassari-Argentiera, which runs twice on Sunday as the live TV stage. The competitive action kicks off on Thursday evening with a short two-kilometre super special stage and then takes the crews to the Logudoro and Anglona regions for two loops of four stages on Friday. Saturday is the longest day covering 177.70 competitive kilometres and takes in two runs through the spectacular 44 kilometre Monte Lerno stage, while Sunday - north of Alghero - is the shortest with just two loops of two stages totalling 42.04 kilometres.

RALLY DATA

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The Accreditation Centre is located at Rally HQ, Lu Qualté, Alghero. The opening hours are:

RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

MANUFACTURER ENTRIES, RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA

ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES 

‘Meet the Crews’: On Friday and Saturday the top three drivers will attend a ‘Meet the Crews’ session for media and fans. This will take place on the WRC Stage in the service park at the earliest opportunity during the 45' service.

Autograph Signing Session: On Friday and Saturday selected crews will be available for a 15 minute autograph session. This will take place in the service park during the end of day service at the teams’ service areas.

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships can be found on the following link:

http://www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2016/standings

STAGE CHART

Shortly after the finish of the event, a downloadable stage chart showing the progressive positions of the leading crews during the rally will be available. This is copyright free for editorial purposes and available at the following link:

http://www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2016/stage-chart-4

STAGE MAP