The IRC attractsThe promotional catchphrase used to promote the town's events is "Sanremo, every day is a special day." It is almost the same for Rallye Sanremo, as every edition is a special one.
It has always been like this and this year it will be that way more
then ever. The jaunty logo of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, evidence of the confirmed validity in an important world series, confirms this as do the numbers. Big numbers, since 128 entrants and four touring car drivers will be opening leg 2.
The names of the announced protagonists of this challenge, to be held on the west Ligurian side from 26 to 29 September, will excite fans. With such a rich entry list, it will be difficult to find nowadays in other Italian races so many drivers with winning chances.
On the list, there is Gilles Panizzi, trying to get his fourth win at Sanremo; Giandomenico Basso, who is hoping to celebrate on the "Flowers Riviera" the attainment of this year's Italian rally title; there is Paolo Andreucci who, together with Luca Rossetti, will try his best to block him.
Then there are Freddy Loix, Nicolas Vouilloz, Enrique Ojeda, Andrea Navarra, Bruno Magalhaes, Bernd Casier, Brice Tirabassi, Julien Pressac and Janos Toth. There are Piero Longhi and Andrea Aghini.
There is Renato Travaglia, for whom things cannot go wrong all the time!
"At a certain moment we worried to be submerged by entrants' requests," says Sergio Miga, who spent a few nights trying to give all an appropriate space inside the service park-salon, within a short distance from the Casino and near the sea. Once the worries vanished, satisfaction took place.
"Being filled up is rewarding for us," admits Maiga. "It means that teams and drivers appreciated the work Automobile Club Sanremo had carried out in the past years in order to bring the rally back to high levels due to its long history."
Quality and quantity: more than enough to attract a multitude of spectators, both Italians and tourists.
"Information requests that we have been receiving for quite a while now made us believe a lot of people will attend," says the prime mover of the group that has organized Rallye Sanremo for the past three years.
"In order to avoid hitches we have to double our care and be cautious. It won't be easy, but this is the price of our event's success and we are ready to pay it," Maiga concluded.
Source Automobile Club Sanremo
