July 2023

It was at the headquarters of Empresa de Cervejas da Madeira, one of the oldest sponsors of the motorsport events organised by Club Sports da Madeira, that the regulatory disclosure of the List of Entries with the respective participation numbers in RVM 2023 was made. The president of the club and also of the Rally Organising Committee, José Paulo Fontes, made a point of highlighting the long-standing partnership with ECM, the event's host company, Empresa Madeirense de Tabacos, MEO Empresas, and Banco Português de Investimento - BPI, whose loyalty has, in his words, manifested itself unconditionally, being a stimulus for those who have the responsibility of organising the biggest sporting event in the Region year after year. A special word of recognition was also addressed to the Regional Government and the Municipal Councils of the island of Madeira. Regarding this year's event, José Paulo Fontes said that "for many years there has not been such a great pulse around Rali Vinho da Madeira. Not only externally but also internally. He emphasised the participation of practically all the drivers who are competing in the different championships. Madeira has a record number of entries in the Peugeot Rally Cup Iberica competition, he emphasised. Regarding the number of entries in the 2023 edition of the RVM, he recalled that it was necessary to make a request to the FIA, which authorised an addition to the regulations. At the press conference, the president of Rali Vinho da Madeira OC announced the availability of more than 2,000 seats at the opening Special Stage on Avenida do Mar, and tickets for some stands, namely at Rotunda Sá Carneiro, are already sold out. According to the president of Rali Vinho da Madeira OC, the high number of registered teams forced the organisation to pay special attention to some operational aspects of the pre-rally programme. For example, in the busy autograph session to be held, as in recent years, in the Madeira Casino park, only 40 vehicles may be on display. However, all drivers and their navigators will be present at this always exciting contact with the public. The autograph session is one of the great moments of Rali Vinho da Madeira, being undoubtedly one of the barometers of the affection that the Madeirans have for their rally of choice.

The national champion, Armindo Araújo, will wear the number 1 on his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 in the 64th edition of Rali Vinho da Madeira, which will be on the road between 3rd  and 5th  August. The entry list revealed today is followed by the first two classified in the Portuguese Rally Championship, Miguel Correia and Ricardo Teodósio, in Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo and Hyundai i20N Rally2, respectively. Numbers 4 and 5 were awarded to the regional champion, Miguel Nunes, and to the current leader of the Madeiran championship, Alexandre Camacho.   The list of 85 entries published by Club Sports da Madeira also includes names such as Bernardo Sousa, Diego Ruiloba, Giandomenico Basso, José Pedro Fontes, Kris Meeke, Miguel Caires, Paulo and Pedro Meireles or Simone Campedelli, in a total of 21 competitors with Rally2 vehicles. In addition to the models used by the competitors with the lowest numbers, vehicles such as the Citroën C3 Rally2, Ford Fiesta Rally2, Skoda Fabia R5 and Peugeot 208 T16 will also compete on the island.   As part of the FIA European Rally Trophy, the Portuguese Rally Championship and the Madeira Coral Rally Championship, Rali Vinho da Madeira promises a lot of competition, in addition to the fight of the first positions at the absolute level, of the top places in each of these competitions. In 2023, there is also the prospect of excitement brought by the 18 teams with Peugeot 208 Rally4 of the Peugeot Iberian Rally Cup. The many spectators will also appreciate the 5 competitors with Porsche 991 and 997 GT3 and Alpine A110 RGT.   The entry list for Rali Vinho da Madeira can be found here.

Vítor Sá makes his debut behind the wheel of a Peugeot 208 Rally4 in Rali Vinho da Madeira. In these circumstances, "we'll first see what the car is worth because I don't know it and I've never driven it. I will only discover the car, from the Enjolras team, at the shakedown and, in the race, I will try to get to know the car metre by metre. I know it's a model with potential but first we'll have to adapt it and improve it to our style. In this rally I will also have a new co-driver, Victor Calado. Despite so much novelty, we chose to be in the Peugeot Iberian Rally Cup because we thought we should be part of this competition so disputed. However, given the constraints, I will race without any pressure regarding results". Winner of the Rali Vinho da Madeira in 2004 with a Peugeot 306 Maxi, Vítor Sá is 58 years old and his debut in rallies took place in 1988 with a Renault 5 GT Turbo. He has been behind the wheel of models such as Toyota Corolla GT, Toyota Celica GT-Four, Ford Sierra Cosworth, Ford Escort RS Cosworth, Opel Corsa A GSi, Renault Clio Williams, Renault Mégane Maxi, Subaru Impreza 555, Subaru Impreza S5 WRC, Peugeot 306 Maxi, Peugeot 206 S1600, Renault Clio S1600, Fiat Punto S2000, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, Peugeot 207 S2000 and, for the last five years, Citroën DS3 R3T. In addition to numerous class titles, he was absolute regional champion on 11 occasions, in 1992, between 1999 and 2007 and in 2011.