Kalle Rovanperä’s World Rally Championship season is over. Having already started the seven rallies he had a contract to drive in 2024, he will not be in action for Toyota at Rally Japan.
But his rallying is not finished for the year just yet. There’s still the Killarney Historic Rally to look forward to later this month, and before that, he appears at the Fiorio Cup this weekend. But what exactly is the Fiorio Cup?
This will be the fourth edition of the event hosted by the famous Fiorio family in the heel of southern Italy. Cesare Fiorio is a legend in rallying circles for his role as team manager of the all-conquering Lancia team, and even had a stint running the Ferrari Formula 1 team. Son Alex was one of his drivers at Lancia, finishing second in the WRC to team-mate Miki Biasion in 1989.
The Fiorio Cup is a rallysprint-style competition that takes place on a gravel course laid out by Alex at Masseria Camarda, the family-owned farm.
Last year’s event (read more below) took the form of a battle of generations in which rising stars competed against a team of legends. This year, the idea is for a Ryder Cup of rallying, with Rovanperä representing Europe in a contest against Italy.
Of course, in the Ryder Cup, the role of captain usually falls to a more senior player rather than simply the biggest name in the team. Rovanperä will be linking up with a fellow Finn in Harri Toivonen, practically a Fiorio Cup veteran at this point, whose Team Europe line-up is completed by Burcu Çetinkaya. For Team Italy, Andrea Aghini captains a roster that also includes Andrea Crugnola and Tamara Molinaro.
Individually, four-time Italian champion Crugnola has won all three previous editions of the Fiorio Cup. The arrival of a two-time world champion in Rovanperä will surely provide him with his toughest challenge yet. This is typically a relaxed and social event, but a contest that drivers can’t help but take seriously once their helmets are on.
Drivers usually compete head-to-head in identical cars, and this year both the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 (unsurprisingly given Rovanperä’s presence) and Škoda Fabia Rally2 will be in use. Drivers take turns in the cars across four passes of the stage, two in each direction.
Before things get underway, there’s a chance for the local public to meet the drivers on Saturday evening with a parade through the streets of nearby Ceglie Messapica. The competition takes place on Sunday, with elimination heats during the morning and the finals in the afternoon.
