SANREMO SET FOR TOP IRC ACTION

A total of 55 IRC entrants will take the start of next weekend's Sanremo Rally, round eight of the IRC, with 19 of them driving Super 2000 cars. As well as being the penultimate European round of the IRC this year, Sanremo also counts for the Italian Rally Championship, which will see a strong contingent of cars from Abarth in particular.
The Italian team will line up with no fewer than five factory cars on their home event, for Giandomenico Basso, Renato Travaglia, Andrea Navarra, Anton Alen and Umberto Scandola. Also driving a privateer Abarth, for the renowned Grifone team, will be the 1994 World Rally Champion Didier Auriol, co-driven as always by Denis Giraudet.

The event will be a prime opportunity for Abarth to make up ground in the manufacturers' championship, where they currently trail Peugeot. However, the French team is also strongly represented. IRC series leader Nicolas Vouilloz will start the rally first on the road, which can actually be an advantage on asphalt as it means that he will run on cleaner roads during the first passage through the stages at least.
As was the case on the Sanremo Rally last year, Mitsubishi is sure to be a strong force on the event thanks to Paolo Andreucci's official Ralliart Italia entry. Andreucci, running on Pirelli tyres, has proved to be masterful in the tricky conditions of Sanremo and he will once more be one to watch. Pirelli's other lead drivers on the event include Luca Cantamessa and former Sanremo winner Alessandro Perico.

A fierce battle also announces itself in the two-wheel drive category, where local driver Marco Cavigioli aims to extend his five-point lead of the series. Amongst his challengers will be the Honda Civic Type R R3 of Alessandro Bettega.
Sanremo gets underway with four special stages on Thursday night (25 September), which includes the longest stage of the entire IRC season. The rally finishes on Saturday afternoon after 12 stages in total and 258 competitive kilometres. A full IRC preview will be published on Monday.

SOLA AIMS FOR MORE IRC IN 2009

Spanish driver and former Junior World Rally Champion Dani Sola is aiming for another season of the IRC in 2009, after a strong performance on the Principe de Asturias Rally
While Sola does not have the budget to compete in the remaining three rounds of the IRC this year, the Spaniard is currently working on a deal to complete the full series next year. His potential was underlined once more on the Principe de Asturias Rally, when he was in the top four comfortably. Unfortunately, a mysterious problem on the second day meant that he was unable to complete the event after going off.
"I don't know what happened," said Sola. "When I turned into the corner completely as normal, the car had some big understeer and we went off. It certainly didn't react as it would normally."
Despite this disappointment, Sola is upbeat about the future. "The IRC is definitely where I want to be next year," he said. "The level of competition and the quality of events is extremely good. For drivers such as myself, the IRC is an ideal competition."

BETTEGA OPTIMISTIC HEADING TO SANREMO

Italian driver Alessandro Bettega, the son of the legendary Attilio Bettega, is optimistic heading into the next round of the IRC, the Sanremo Rally, after a successful second day on the Principe de Asturias Rally.
Although Bettega was forced to retire after the opening day, he came back on day two under the super rally system to prove his pace and that of his Honda Civic Type R R3, which is run by Procar on the IRC. His mission was accomplished as he set the fastest time of all the two-wheel drive cars on every stage apart from the last one. On three of those stages, he finished within the top 10 times overall.
"I think that just goes to show something we always knew anyway: that the combination of me and this car can be very quick," said Bettega. "We've worked extremely hard on the set-up and improved the suspension of the car a lot. So now our work is really beginning to pay off, and I am optimistic that we will see the results in Sanremo."
In preparation for the Italian event, round eight of the IRC, Bettega will undertake a two-day asphalt test on roads similar to those that will be used on the rally.

TV TIMES FOR SANREMO RALLY ON EUROSPORT

Once more the Sanremo Rally will be broadcast live on Eurosport, and there will also be some exclusive programmes for internet that allow web viewers to catch all the action first. All times are central European time (CET).

Live action

Thursday 25 September
22:00-22:30 LIVE (Eurosport + Eurosport Asia-Pacific + Internet *)
Regular repeats overnight on Eurosport 2 until 07:30

Friday 26 September
09:55-10:25 LIVE (Internet *)
12:30-13:00 (Eurosport + Eurosport Asia-Pacific + Internet *)
Regular repeats overnight on Eurosport 2 until 07:30

Saturday 27 September
11:30-12:00 LIVE (Eurosport 2 + Eurosport Asia-Pacific + Internet *)
14:45-15:15 LIVE (Internet *)
17:00-17:30 (Eurosport + Eurosport Asia-Pacific + Internet *)