Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | Italian American |
Born | Palermo, Italy | 22 March 1973
World Rally Championship record | |
Teams | Hoonigan Racing Division M-Sport World Rally Team Sirbb Kuwait Subaru Rally Team USA Rally FaNZ [ citation needed ] |
First rally | 2007 Rally Mexico [ citation needed ] |
Alessandro Gelsomino (born 22 March 1973) is an Italian rally co-driver. [1] [2] Born in Palermo, [3] he is best known of his 17-year association with American Ken Block in rallying from 2005 until his death in 2023. [4]
He is married to fellow co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino, sister of Australian rally driver Brendan Reeves. [5] [6]
The World Rally Championship is an international rallying series owned and governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the second oldest of the FIA's world championships after Formula One. Each season lasts one calendar year, and separate championship titles are awarded to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers. There are also two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower maximum performance and running costs of the cars permitted. Junior WRC is also contested on five events of the World Rally Championship calendar.
The FIA Junior WRC, also known as JWRC and previously known as Junior World Rally Championship, is an international rallying competition restricted to drivers under 29 years old. The championship currently consists of five select rallies of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar. The category has been a stepping stone in the careers of Sebastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier, Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans, Craig Breen and Thierry Neuville.
Markko Märtin is a retired rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.
Nicholas Mark Grist is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies with more than one driver.
The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team is the privately run World Rally Championship team of M-Sport, the firm run by Malcolm Wilson that was previously responsible for the operation of the former Ford World Rally Team.
The 2010 World Rally Championship was the 38th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies, beginning with Rally Sweden on 11 February and ended with Wales Rally GB on 14 November.
Kenneth Paul Block was an American professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division, formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team. Block was also one of the co-founders of DC Shoes. He also competed in many action sports events, including skateboarding, snowboarding, and motocross.
Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985, succeeding the "SEAT Special Vehicles department" which had been formed in 1971 with the mission to enforce the brand's participation in rally championships, followed by 11 titles between 1979 and 1983. In 2018, SEAT created the Cupra brand as its independent high-performance branch and SEAT Sport was officially replaced by Cupra Racing.
The New England Forest Rally is a performance rally event in New Hampshire and Maine, United States. Originally known as the Maine Forest Rally, it first appeared in 1991 as a winter rally. In the past, the event was part of the SCCA ProRally and Rally America schedule, now it is sanctioned by the American Rally Association.
The FIA WRC2 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after Rally1 class crews. WRC2 is limited to production-based cars homologated under Group Rally2 rules. There are separate specific championship titles awarded to Teams, Drivers and Co-Drivers.
The Hoonigan Racing Division is a motor racing team that competes in the American Rally Association. The team previously competed in the World Rally Championship, Global RallyCross Championship, FIA World Rallycross Championship and Rally America.
Ott Tänak is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship.
Subaru Motorsports USA is Subaru of America's motorsports arm that participates in events in the United States and its operations are managed by Vermont SportsCar, previously Prodrive.
The 2013 East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship is the 46th season of the Australian Rally Championship, one of the world's oldest continuously run rally championships. The season began 1 March at the newly revived National Capital Rally, and is scheduled to end 16 November at Rally Victoria, after six events.
Leonid "Crazy Leo" Urlichich is a Russian-Canadian rally driver currently competing in the Canadian and the US national championships. He drives for a Toronto-based team Can-Jam Motorsports and has expressed ambitions to compete in the World Rally Championship.
The Hyundai World Rally Team is a rally team competing in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as the official Hyundai entrant. Its team principal is Cyril Abiteboul, and its drivers in the 2024 season include Thierry Neuville, Ott Tanak, Esapekka Lappi, Dani Sordo and Andreas Mikkelsen. The team has entered WRC every year since 2014 by Hyundai Motorsport, a division of Hyundai Motors based in Alzenau, Germany. Between the years of 2000 to 2003, the team was run by Motor Sport Developments of Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, on behalf of Hyundai Motor Sport.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team is a competitor of the World Rally Championship (WRC) based in Finland, serving as the entry for the car manufacturer Toyota. Its team principal is former WRC driver Jari-Matti Latvala and its drivers for 2023 include reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä, alongside Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and Sébastien Ogier. The team made its debut during the 2017 season, where it entered the Toyota Yaris WRC.
The Marathon de la Route was a series of road rallies held in Europe between 1931 and 1971, including Liège–Rome–Liège and Liège–Sofia–Liège rallies held on public roads and closed-circuit races held at the Nürburgring from 1965 until 1971. It was reserved for so-called touring cars. Many renowned drivers participated such as Olivier Gendebien, Willy Mairesse, Lucien Bianchi, and Jacky Ickx.
The 2021 FIA WRC2 Championship was the ninth season of WRC2, a rallying championship for organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the second-highest tier of international rallying. The category was open to cars entered by teams and complying with Rally2 regulations. The championship began in January 2021 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and concluded in November 2021 with Rally Monza, and ran in support of the 2021 World Rally Championship.
Sean Johnston is an American rally driver currently competing in World Rally Championship-2. He began his racing career in 2011 in the North American Nissan GT Academy, a televised competition that took the fastest sim racers in Gran Turismo to compete in real cars to win a professional racing contract with Nissan. After finishing second in the competition, Johnston competed in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge the following year, claiming 14 podiums from 15 races and winning the championship. In 2013, Johnston moved to Europe to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. In 2018, Johnston switched to rallying, competing alongside co-driver Alex Kihurani. Johnston's first rallying win came at the 2020 Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo, where he won the RC4 class, becoming the first American with a class win at the event. Johnston and Kihurani drive the Citroën C3 Rally2 for Saintéloc Junior Team.