July 2023

FIA European Rally Trophy with a new formula

Rali Vinho da Madeira is an integral part of the FIA European Rally Trophy, a competition organised by the international motor sport federation that has undergone several changes this year. During the major changes introduced in the European championship a little over 10 years ago and the reduction in the number of events in that series, a new formula was created, encompassing the remaining events called the European Cup. The following year, that Cup evolved into the current trophy which, over the years, has taken different forms. The one that was in force the longest was a competition divided by geographical areas in which the best in each area were automatically qualified for a final, played in a single race, which awarded the title. Alexandre Camacho from Madeira achieved this triumph in 2018 in a year when the closing event was in Algarve. For 2023, the International Federation has decided to make major changes and, excluding regional competitions in geographical areas, the best result in all 19 events that make up a calendar that previously featured more than 50 events will count again. The scoring system has also been changed and takes into account, with a coefficient, the number of appearances in each of the categories, which means that a competitor with a less competitive car, such as a Rally4, can fight for the sceptre. The FIA European Rally Trophy includes 19 rallies this season, with a maximum of two for each country, the Portuguese Vinho da Madeira and Terras d'Aboboreira, the Czechs Valasska and Cesky Krumlov, the French Ain Jura and Antibes Cote d'Azur, Switzerland's Chablais and Valais, Croatia's Ina Delta, Ireland's Donegal, Austria's Weiz, Poland's Rzeszow and Slask, the UK's Ulster and Ceredigion, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia's Nova Gorica and Germany's Lausitz.  

Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 debuts in Madeira

The Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 will make its first competitive kilometres on Madeiran soil in the next edition of the Rali Vinho da Madeira at the hands of national champion Armindo Araújo. The latest version of the Czech brand's racing model is based on the fourth series of the Fabia and was homologated towards the end of 2022. Its competition debut took place at the Lausitz Rallye in November, and Andreas Mikkelsen drove the debutant to victory in that event, which was the Final of the FIA European Rally Trophy last year. The Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 follows on from other successful models from the Mlada Boleslav-based company such as the Fabia S2000, R5 and Rally2 Evo. It has a turbocharged four-cylinder engine of around 1,600 cc and officially delivers around 300 horsepower. Its power and torque delivery has been optimised compared to its predecessors. The new model features an optimised chassis and improved weight distribution. The new car is already very popular with teams, but in some cases they will have to wait a long time for delivery. Orders have already exceeded 500 units and the Czech brand's production capacity does not reach a hundred a year. According to some of its users, this model, which has won several outright and group victories, is, however, more demanding than previous versions in terms of tuning and adjustments.

Simone Campedelli is back to Rali Vinho da Madeira

Simone Campedelli will be at the start of the next edition of the Rali Vinho da Madeira, on the road between 3rd and 5th August. As promised in 2022, the year of his debut on the island, the Italian returns to an event he has praised and in which he wanted to use his experience to fight for the top positions. Campedelli will be driving a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo with Indian MRF tyres, the brand whose colours he has been sporting for over a year. The driver navigated by Tania Canton will turn 36 on 26th July and has been rallying since 2004, when he made his debut in a Citroën C2. For many years, he used various versions of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and, between 2011 and 2013, the Citroën DS3 R3T. From 2014, he was behind the wheel of several R5 models and from 2011 with the current car. In his career, he was Italian junior champion in 2021 and Italian two-wheel drive champion the following year. In 2022, he was the tarmac champion of his home country. This season he will be back full-time in the European speciality championship.

Giandomenico Basso at Rali Vinho da Madeira

Giandomenico Basso will return in 2023 to the Rali Vinho da Madeira, one of his favourite events since it is also held on an island where he is very popular due to his four triumphs in the Club Sports da Madeira organisation. The Italian driver will be in Funchal with a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo from the Delta Rally team, a team with great experience in the archipelago. Giandomenico Basso is 49 years old and started rallying in 1994 with an Opel Astra GSi 16 V. The following year he switched to a Fiat and represented the brand until 2011. He also officially defended the colours of Proton. He has won four Italian and two European titles in the sport, as well as two victories in the TER and one in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.  

Diego Ruiloba at Rali Vinho da Madeira

Diego Ruiloba is one of the drivers who will start the next edition of Rali Vinho da Madeira. The young Spanish driver will join the rally, organised by the Club Sports da Madeira, scheduled to hit the road between 3rd and 5th August, with the usual Citroën C3 Rally2, with which he has lined up this season in the super championship of the sport in his country. Ruiloba is 22 years old and started the rallies in 2019 with a Peugeot 208, a model he also drove the following year. In 2021 he took the wheel of a Suzuki Swift Sport to win the mono-brand competition in the neighbouring country. Last year, he once again drove a Peugeot 208 Rally4 and won another trophy, in this case the Peugeot Iberian Rally Cup. This success allowed him to move this year to the Citroën C3 Rally2, with which he has defended the brand's colours on four occasions. He was seventh in the Sierra Morena Rally and climbed the lowest step of the podium in the Tierras Altas de Lorca Rally. He abandoned in the Islas Canarias due to the failure of his mount, and climbed the podium again in Ourense. At this stage he is fifth in Spain's most important championship.

Kris Meeke returns to Madeira

The British driver Kris Meeke, who dominated and won the Castelo Branco Rally, fifth race of the Portuguese championship held last weekend, returns to Madeira in 2023. Pointed out by the late Colin McRae as his successor, Meeke is this season defending the colours of Hyundai Portugal at the wheel of the i20N Rally2, which was being used by Craig Breen, also tragically missing this year. With 44 years completed last July 2nd, the driver has in his portfolio the title in Intercontinental Rally Challenge 2009, then driving a Peugeot 207 S2000, the year in which he debuted, with the fifth final position, in the organization of the Club Sports da Madeira. He returned to the island in the next edition with the same model but abandoned with an oil leak in his car. Kris Meeke has been since then in the WRC and in the main championship, he represented Mini, Citroën and Toyota. He was one of the drivers responsible for the development of the new Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 and, with victories in the Terras d'Aboboreira and Castelo Branco rallies, he is fifth in the CPR entering Rali Vinho da Madeira.

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