| International Rally of Messina Rally internazionale di Messina | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Italian Rally Championship | |
| Host country |  |
| Rally base | Messina, Italy |
| Dates run | 1979 – 2004 |
International Rally of Messina (in Italian Rally internazionale di Messina) was a former rally competition that was held in Messina, Italy.
The event was held for 26 editions, from 1979 to 2004 and was part of the European Rally Championship schedule and the Italian national rally championship.
Many of Italian top drivers for several years fought for the Italian title, because the rally was one of the last race of the season, and often decisive. Among the winners are remembered Andrea Aghini, Franco Cunico and Piero Liatti.
Messina is the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 231,000 inhabitants in the city proper and about 650,000 in the Metropolitan City. It is located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina, opposite Villa San Giovanni on the mainland, and has close ties with Reggio Calabria. According to Eurostat the FUA of the metropolitan area of Messina has, in 2014, 277,584 inhabitants.
The Safari Rally is a rally race held in Kenya. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1960 it was renamed the East African Safari Rally and kept that name until 1974, when it became the Safari Rally. Widely regarded as one of the most popular African rallies, it was set to make a return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2020 after an 18-year hiatus, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will instead return in the 2021 World Rally Championship.
The Rally Sweden, formerly the International Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, as a summer rally called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish became located in Karlstad. The main service park is located in the town of Torsby, which is actually much closer to the special stages than Karlstad. The competition is spread out over three days with the start of the first part on Friday morning and the finish on Sunday afternoon.
Ian Duncan is one of Kenya's most successful rally drivers. He was Kenyan Rally Champion six times, and achieved outright victory in a World Rally Championship round when he won the 42nd Trustbank Safari Rally in 1994. This was one of seven consecutive top ten finishes in the event from 1990–1996, despite its notorious attrition rate.
Chandrashekhar "Shekhar" Mehta was a Ugandan-born Kenyan rally driver. He won the Safari Rally a record five times, including four consecutively, and in 1981 finished fifth in the World Rally Championship.
Pentti Airikkala was one of the "Flying Finns" who dominated world rallying in the past four decades. His career was more sporadic than many of his contemporaries, and he competed in only three World Rally Championship (WRC) events regularly; the two Scandinavian rallies and the RAC Rally in the United Kingdom.
The Rally de Portugal is a rally competition held in Portugal. First held in 1967, the seventh running of the race, the 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Championship in 1973. The rally remained on the WRC calendar for the next 29 years, and after being dropped for 2002–2006, the event returned to Portugal in 2007. During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, Rally de Portugal was a mixed event between asphalt and gravel. Currently it is an all-gravel event.
Sardar Joginder Singh Bhachu was a successful endurance rally driver in the 1960s and 1970s. Popularly known as "The Flying Sikh", He won the Safari Rally three times, in 1965 driving a Volvo PV544 with his brother Jaswant as co-driver, and in 1974 and 1976 driving a Mitsubishi Colt Lancer 1600 GSR.
The Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia, also known as the Palermo Open, was a men's professional tennis tournament held annually at the Circolo Tennis Palermo in Palermo in Italy. Held from 1935 until 2006, the tournament was played on outdoor clay courts and was a part of the ATP Tour schedule from 1990 to 2006. The event was part of the ATP World Series from 1990 until 1999 and part of its successor, the ATP International Series, from 2000 until its final edition in 2006. That year the ATP bought back the tournament sanction.
Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the Italian national rally championship.
The National Capital Rally, replaced the Rally of Canberra as Canberra's round of the Australian Rally Championship and is an automobile rally event held in and around Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The Rally of Canberra first held in 1988. For many years the National Capital Rally (NatCap) was an ACT Series Rally that was held separately to the Rally of Canberra. When the Rally of Canberra ceased to exist the National Capital Rally was elevated to a round of the National Championship.
The Rali Vinho da Madeira is a tarmac rally held in Madeira Island, Portugal, and it is the biggest annual sporting event of the island, bringing thousands of people into the roads to watch the drivers compete through the hilly terrain and the natural landscapes. Its first edition was in 1959, having later entered the European Rally Championship in 1979, and remained in its calendar until 2012. It has also been part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge since the championship was first held in 2006, which brought further exposure to the event as Eurosport broadcasts footage of this championship to many countries.
Taormina Film Fest (TFF), a historic film festival that began in 1955 under the name Rassegna Cinematografica Internazionale di Messina e Taormina. The exhibition, which moved permanently to Taormina in 1971, has hosted over the years many stars of international cinema: Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Sophia Loren, Cary Grant, Robert De Niro, Colin Firth, Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Tom Cruise, Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas, among others. The award is the Nastro d'Argento in Italian cinema.
Gianfranco Cunico is an Italian rally driver who won the 1993 Rallye Sanremo.
The 2007 European Rally Championship season was the 55th season of the FIA European Rally Championship. French driver Simon Jean-Joseph won his second European rally championship title despite not winning any of the 10 events.
Tiziano Siviero is an Italian rally co-driver. He is most closely associated with Miki Biasion, with whom he won the 1983 European Rally Championship on Lancia Rally 037, the 1988 World Rally Championship and the 1989 World Rally Championship on Lancia Delta Integrale.
The 2006 European Rally Championship season was the 54th season of the FIA European Rally Championship. Italian driver Giandomenico Basso won his first European rally championship after winning 4 rallies.
The Rally Príncipe de Asturias is a rally motorsport competition usually held in September in Asturias, Spain, organized by the Automóvil Club Principado de Asturias (ACPA). In the early years, the championship was called Rally de la Ciudad de Oviedo.
Anna Andreussi is an Italian rally co-driver best known for her partnership with her husband Paolo Andreucci.
Yves Loubet is a French rally driver born on October 31, 1958 in Mostaganem. His son Pierre-Louis Loubet is also rally driver.