Italy’s national rally series, Campionato Italiano Rally, has bucked the trend of widespread cancelations by successfully rescheduling most of its events, announcing a seven-round calendar over six rallies.
Amidst a wave of rally cancelations, headlined by the World Rally Championship’s loss of Rally Finland and Rally New Zealand, Italy’s domestic championship has managed to successfully reschedule four of its postponed events, while retaining original dates for another two.
Rally di Roma, which will also serve as the season-opener for the European Rally Championship, will begin the season on July 25-26, acting as a double-header event with each day of action counting as a full round of the national series.
Tuscan Rewind, the season finale which takes place on November 22, is the only the other rally to keep its original slot.
Rally Il Ciocco, which was originally set to be the season opener on March 15, now lines up behind Rally di Roma in the schedule on August 23. Targa Florio has been moved from its original May date to September 13.
Rounds four and five of the national series have been pushed back by only a week, with Rally Sanremo and Rally Due Valli taking place on October 4 and October 25 respectively.
Only two of the championship’s original 2020 events have not reappeared on the revised calendar: 1000 Miglia, whose organizers elected to postpone their event to 2021 only last week, and Italy’s round of the WRC, Rally Italy, which was also a points-scoring event at national level and is still awaiting a new date.
“We must recognize the great commitment of the sports federation in collaboration with the organizers and in the drafting and adoption of complex protocols for restarting,” said Aldo Bonomi, president of Automobile Club Brescia, the organisers of the cancelled 1000 Miglia.
“The current scenario is still very difficult to interpret and would make the reorganization of the event at another date by the end of 2020 particularly complex. We considered the availability of the municipal administrations, the revision of the route, the new logistics and not least the impact that the event could have in this context.
“It was not easy to make a decision, but in the end we are sure that the postponement is the right one.”
In addition to the senior championship, CIR Junior’s calendar remains much the same. It will be on the support bill of all the senior championship’s events bar Rally Il Ciocco, instead visiting San Marino Rally on August 30, another event which has been successfully rescheduled from its original date.
CIR WRC, the national championship with pre-2017 WRC-specification machinery as its top class, has retained half its original events, with Rally Elba and Rally San Martino rescheduled and Rally Alba keeping its original date, making it the new season opener on August 2.
It will now visit the national championship’s penultimate round, Rally Due Valli, as its own season finale.
In a bid to stimulate entry numbers ACI Sport, the organizers of the Italian national championship, has said it will waive entry fees for all competitors for the rest of 2020.
The championship’s dropped scores system has also been tweaked, with only the five best results counting towards each drivers’ final points total for the season.
