The 250 charge at the start of the upcoming spectacular international rally weekend in Sanremo

Big names, in both the historic and modern categories, are set to make for a thrilling three days in western Liguria, with drivers from fifteen countries (including Mexico and Japan) taking to the start line from 16 to 18 October, alongside former World Championship drivers Jari-Matti Latvala, François Delecour and Freddy Loix, who will be competing for a podium finish in the historic rally, whilst in the modern rally it will be the ‘Four Musketeers’ of the Italian Rally Championship – Sparco (Daprà, Avbelj, Crugnola and Andolfi) – who will be aiming for a victory that could decide the season. Defending Sanremo’s colours will be Maurizio Pagella and Elio Cortese in the historic category, and Patrizia Sciascia and Antonio Annovi in the Palme category.

SANREMO (IM), 11 October – Entries have already exceeded 250 for the five motor racing events scheduled to take place in western Liguria from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October: the 73rd Rallye Sanremo, which counts towards the Sparco Italian Rally Championship and the European Rally Trophy; the 27th Rally delle Palme, the final round of the Rally Zone-2 Cup; the 41st Sanremo Historic Rally, the final round of the Italian Historic Car Rally Championship and also counting towards the European Historic and Classic Car Championship; the 40th edition of the Coppa dei Fiori regularity rally, the final round of the season in the Italian Historic Regularity Rally Championship; and, last but not least, the brand-new 1st Sanremo Electric Rally, a single-model speed rally reserved for crews competing in the German ADAC-Opel Mokka Cup

Meanwhile, the names of some of the key competitors in the five races are beginning to emerge. The first to put on a show on the tarmac of western Liguria will be the drivers of the 41st Sanremo Historic Rally, divided into two sections: those competing for the European Historic and Classic Rally Championship (the entry list for this is already official), led by the Team Manager of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – who secured both the drivers’ and teams’ world titles at the recent Italy-Sardinia Rally – the Finn Jari-Matti Latvala, with 18 World Rally Championship victories (he holds the record for being the most successful driver never to have won the World Rally Championship title), who will be driving a Toyota Celica ST 185 – a car that won five world titles, including drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles, between 1992 and 1995. Challenging him for victory will be the ‘elf’ of the World Rally Championship, the Frenchman François Delecour – with four overall World Rally Championship victories and the 1993 World Rally Championship runner-up – who will be competing in a Peugeot 306 Maxi, a car that secured second place overall in the World Rally Championship rounds at Monte Carlo and Corsica whilst driven by Delecour himself.. Staying on the subject of drivers who have experienced the World Championship first-hand, we have the Belgian Freddy Loix, who has competed in 93 World Rally Championship events and made his debut in the series at the 1993 Sanremo Rally. To take on this ‘parterre de rois’ of drivers and co-drivers from eleven different countries (Finland, Japan, Belgium, France, Poland, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and the Netherlands), the Italian contingent is led primarily by Lucio Da Zanche from Valtellina in a Porsche 911 SC RS – the record-holder for victories, having won the ‘Sanremo’ six times and finishing second overall last year – and ‘Zippo’, otherwise known as Andrea Zivian, in a Subaru Impreza, who has two European historic titles to his name and has competed in the Sanremo six times. Maurizio Pagella and Roberto Brea – true Sanremo locals who first competed in the Sanremo race back in 2000 – will be flying the flag for the City of Flowers in the race.

Immediately after the European Championship contenders, the drivers competing for points in the Italian Historic Car Rally Championship will take to the track; Sanremo is the final round of this championship (for which entries have just closed), with several drivers from western Liguria likely to feature prominently, such as Sanremo’s own Elio Cortese (although he races on a French licence), in a Subaru Legacy, Silvio Leporace from Imperia in an Abarth Ritmo 130 TC, and Sandro Rossi from Savona in a Renault 5 GT Turbo. Once again, there will be an international contingent, with competitors from France and Switzerland.
On Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, it will be the turn of the 73rd Sanremo Rally, which will feature the ‘Four Musketeers’ of the Italian Absolute Rally-Sparco Championship – Roberto Daprà from Trentino and Boštjan Avbelj from Slovenia – who are battling it out for the title in the City of Flowers, as well as Andrea Crugnola and Fabio Andolfi, who are chasing a victory that would cap off their season in style. But it is not just these four drivers who have a lot riding on Sanremo. There are the youngsters in the Junior Championship, for whom Sanremo is a crucial, if not decisive, round; and the competitors in the Lancia Ypsilon, Suzuki Swift and Pirelli Academy Trophy series, as well as the final round of the Toyota GR Yaris Cup. As a round of the European Rally Trophy, Sanremo will attract competitors from six countries, in addition to Italy, creating a melting pot of languages ranging from Mexican to German, from Finnish to Estonian, from Japanese to Turkish; whilst the line-up of drivers vying for victory at the 27th Rally delle Palme will be entirely Italian, a race that will secure places in the national final of the Coppa Rally di Zona in mid-November in Lucca, with Sanremo’s Patrizia Sciascia aiming for a podium finish – hopefully improving on the second place she secured in 2024 – alongside fellow Sanremo driver Antonio Annovi and Federico Gangi from Savona, both with their sights set on Lucca

The 41st Sanremo Historic Rally begins its competitive phase on Wednesday 14 October at the Forte di Santa Tecla in Sanremo, with sporting scrutineering from 7.30 am to 10.30 am, followed by technical scrutineering the following day, Thursday 15 October, from 6.00 pm to 10.00 pm at the Vecchia Stazione in Sanremo. The green light will go on at Pian di Nave (Sanremo) at 8.30 am on Friday 16 October to mark the start of the first leg, which includes two runs on the San Romolo-Ghimbegna special stage (Bignone, 10.28 km at 9.03 am and 3.10 pm), Bivio Ceppo-Badalucco (Vignai, 19.14 km at 9.26 and 15.33), then Molini-Buggio (Langan, 19.11 km at 11.14 and 17.21), followed by Semoigo-Bajardo (7.39 km at 12.22 and 18.19). On Friday, spectators will be able to watch the mechanics at work during the service parks at Porto Sole at 14.09 and 19.14, whilst the midday regroup (13.07) and evening regroup (20.06) will take place in Piazza Colombo. On Saturday 17 October, the race moves into the Imperia hinterland with the Carpasio-Ville San Pietro (Colle d’Oggia, 14.70 km at 10.49) and Caravonica-Rezzo (24.83 km at 14.12), separated by the regrouping (11.49) and Service Park (12.55) at Calata Anselmi in Imperia. Pian di Nave will be the venue for the prize-giving ceremony at the finish line, scheduled for 5.10 pm on Saturday 17 October. The route of the 41st Sanremo Historic Rally covers 475.70 km, 151.37 of which are divided into ten special stages. The historic rally will be accompanied by competitors in the 40th edition of the Coppa dei Fiori regularity rally, which takes place over the first round of special stages on Friday and the entire route on Saturday, with the finish scheduled for Pian di Nave at 19.59 on Saturday 17 October, by which time the competitors will have covered 357.43 km, 117.48 of which are spread across the seven precision stages. As for the historic rally, the City of Sanremo will once again be at the heart of the event, thanks to collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Events and Sport: the Santa Tecla complex will host the race control centre and press room, Porto Sole will be the service park, Piazza Colombo will be the regrouping point, and finally, Pian di Nave, where all the winners will be celebrated.

This is how it went last year. 40th Sanremo Historic Rally, 17–18 October 2025: 1) “Pedro” – Emanuele Baldaccini, Subaru Legacy 4WD, in 1:31.15.4; 2) Lucio Da Zanche and Daniele De Luis, Porsche 911 SC RS, 4.8 seconds behind; 3) Matteo Luise and Melissa Ferro (BMW M3), 2 minutes 51.5 seconds behind.