In its continuing bid to return to the World Rally Championship, the PT–Rallye de Portugal has received a huge boost with the news that a selection of the greatest names in rallying will be competing on the 2005 event, running 1st and 2nd April.
Firstly, double world champion Carlos Sainz will revive his partnership with Luis Moya to drive the course car, a Prodrive-prepared Group N Subaru Impreza WRX. Also taking part in the event will be rallying legends and former world champions, Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol, again driving Subaru Impreza WRXs. Joining them will be the emerging talents of WRC contenders Janne Tuohino and Daniel Carlsson in Imprezas, with Junior WRC regulars Daniel Sordo in a Citroen C2 and Kosti Katajamaki in a Suzuki Ignis.
This combination of the greats of the sport competing against the new breed of drivers coming up through the WRC ranks should provide exceptional action and excitement over the Algarve stages. As the event forms part of the Portuguese national championship, world rally cars are absent, as they are not permitted in the championship. However, the organisers feel that the spectacle expected from the WRC stars, all in the same specification of rally car, will be enormous.
Of course, it’s not just world-famous names that will be competing. As a Portuguese championship event, the entry list will see the cream of Portuguese rallying taking part. Official manufacturer teams are expected from Citroen, running Adruzilio Lopes in a C2, with Miguel Campos in a factory Peugeot 206, Armindo Araújo in a Mitsubishi Lancer EvoVIII, as well as Renault Clios for Pedro Matos Chaves and Jose Pedro Fontes, with Paulo and Pedro Meireles in a pair of VW Polos.
The Portuguese sporting body, the Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP), is totally committed to the event’s return to the WRC and has invested considerable resource into running the event to the highest standards. Safety is of paramount importance and the organisers have worked extremely closely with local authorities, to make sure spectators have the opportunity to experience the action from complete safety.
The ACP has also provided support to the organisers to recruit and train an army of marshals to ensure the event runs smoothly. The rally itself will use a timing system similar to that used on WRC events while attending media will be provided with all the facilities they would expect to find on the WRC; wireless high-speed internet connection, results computers, stage access shuttles and photographer-only locations.
“The importance of this event, not just to motorsport fans but to the whole country, is shown by the effort that both the Portuguese government and the ACP are putting in,” said the President of the Organising Committee Mário Martins da Silva. “All our efforts are going into organising the best possible rally, as one of the candidates for inclusion in the World Rally Championship for the future.
“We also feel that these great drivers, all in the same specification of Group N Subaru against each other, as well as the new breed of drivers and the Portuguese pilots, should make a very exciting event.”
Since its last inclusion in the WRC, the PT-Rallye de Portugal has moved south to the Algarve and will benefit from the excellent facilities offered by its new base, the Algarve Stadium in Faro, built for the Euro2004 football championship. The stages are all based around the Faro area and drivers will face twelve timed tests, totalling almost 238 stage kilometres. The rally begins with a ceremonial start in the beautiful marina at Vilamoura before the first stage on the morning of Friday April 1st. The first crew will arrive at the finish podium at the Algarve stadium on the afternoon of Saturday 2nd April.
