There’s a distinctly global feel to this week’s round of the European Rally Championship.
Rally di Roma Capitale hosts round three of the 2026 season, attracting a flooded entry of 46 Rally2 cars – 39 of which are ERC registered.
Joint championship leaders José Antonio Suárez (Rally Sierra Morena winner) and Mikko Heikkilä (Royal Rally of Scandinavia winner) aren’t in Italy, but that’s no problem when you consider who is.
Due to the event replacing Sardinia as the Italian round of the World Rally Championship from 2027, some big WRC2 names are in town – namely Lancia Corse duo Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin.
But Lancia’s strongest contender for victory could well be two-time winner Andrea Crugnola, who has a score to settle after winning last year’s event on the road but losing out due to a time penalty.
Lancia's Yohan Rossel is among the WRC regular's gaining crucial mileage ahead of the event's elevation to world status
ERC regular and fellow Italian Andrea Mabellini is another who is Ypsilson Rally HF Integrale-mounted, while the brand can also count on French champion Yoann Bonato who seeks a fourth ERC victory.
Other world championship names include WRC2 stars Roberto Daprà (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), Mille Johansson (Škoda), Arthur Pelamourgues (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), Pablo Sarrazin (Citroën C3 Rally2) and Eliott Delecour (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), with Teemu Suninen (Škoda) also present as part of his full-season ERC program.
Along with the usual ERC suspects like reigning champion Miko Marczyk, Jakub Matulka and Dominik Střiteský (Škoda), Tuukka Kauppinen (Lancia) and William Creighton (Citroën), there’s all the Italian championship frontrunners like record Rally di Roma winner Giandomenico Basso (Škoda), Simone Campedelli (Toyota) and Fabio Andolfi (Škoda) to name but a few.
In short, the entry list is sprouting numerous challengers and narratives, and that’s before we even mention Ott Tänak’s Toyota return, driving a GR Yaris Rally2 non-competitively!
MRF-backed Tempestini finished fourth on the event two years ago
MRF Tyres’ hopes are pinned on Fabias driven by 2016 Junior WRC champion Simone Tempestini and Andrei Gîrtofan, as well as rising Czech star Erik Cais’ i20.
The Indian firm is an early third in the tire suppliers’ championship thanks to a podium in Sweden for Mãrtiņš Sesks.
This weekend competitors will tackle 11 special stages in Italy’s Lazio region, with shakedown and qualifying staged on Friday morning before a special stage in front of the world-famous Colosseum.
Saturday is the meat of the action with six stages and 77 miles before Sunday concludes with four tests totaling 45 miles.
