The Sibiu Rally Romania, known originally as the Raliul Sibiului, is an international rally racing event based in Transylvania in central Romania. The event is a round of the European Rally Championship, the Romanian Rally Championship and the Bulgarian Rally Championship. Previously the event had been a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and has been a predominantly gravel event since inception with some stages held on tarmac.
First run in 2001 as a round of the Romanian championship held in the middle of the year, originally in August before settling into a July date. The event became an international event for the first time in 2012 when it was added to the Intercontinental Challenge and Romania was added to the event name as Sibiului Raliul Romania. It was one of four events added to the calendar and slid into a mid-season gap when Atlantic Ocean island event Rallye Açores was moved to the start of the season. The event survived the merger of the Intercontinental Challenge and the European Championship into 2013 when the rally acquired its current name.
Romanian drivers dominated the events early history, the first foreign victor was Finn Jarkko Miettinen in 2008. Simone Tempestini is the most successful driver in the events history, winning five times in total. Norwegian driver Andreas Mikkelsen won the first international event in 2012, with Czech driver Jan Kopecký winning the first European championship round.
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Prince Albert I, the rally was intended to demonstrate improvements and innovations in automobiles, and promote Monaco as a tourist resort on the Mediterranean shore. Before the format changed in 1997, the event was a “concentration rally” in which competitors would set off from various starting points around Europe and drive to Monaco, where the rally would continue to a set of special stages. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast France.
The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and finally returned to WRC in 2015. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features roads around Ajaccio. The rally is held on asphalt roads, and is known as the "Ten Thousand Turns Rally" because of the twisty mountain roads.
The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers competing in recognised regional and international rallies, while offering organisers an innovative TV format concept, created by Eurosport." The series focused on Group N and Group A spec cars up to 2000 cc, including Super 2000, R4, R2 and R3.
The Circuit of Ireland International Rally is an annual automobile rally, which was first held in 1931 making it the third oldest rally in the world. The most recent event was held in 2023.
The European Rally Championship is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship has been organized since 1953 and has competed in different European countries, alternating between rallies on asphalt and gravel. It was the first supranational rally championship that was organized in the world and therefore the oldest one. In 2012 it had 60 editions and in 2013 it was renewed with the merger with the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Andreas Mikkelsen is a Norwegian rally driver. He is currently competing in the World Rally Championship-2 for Toksport World Rally Team. He previously drove for the factory teams of Volkswagen, Citroën and Hyundai in the World Rally Championship, finishing third in the drivers' standings in 2014, 2015 and 2016. His current co-driver is Torstein Eriksen.
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. It was a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and is currently a round of the Italian national rally championship.
Kris Meeke is a British professional rally driver from Northern Ireland, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). He was the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion. His co-driver is Seb Marshall . He began his career as a Computer Aided Designer with M-Sport, at the headquarters of the Ford World Rally Team, before moving on to competing in the Peugeot Super 106 Cup in 2001.
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.
The 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge was the fifth season of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The season consisted of twelve rounds and started on 19 January with the Monte Carlo Rally. The season ended on November 6, at the Cyprus Rally.
The FIA WRC2 Championship 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 2011 Cyprus Rally, officially the 39th FxPro Cyprus Rally, was the eleventh and final round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) season. The eleven stage gravel rally took place over 3–5 November 2011.
The 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge was the seventh and final season of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The season again consisted of thirteen rounds and started on 23 February with the Rallye Açores. The season ended on 3 November, at the Cyprus Rally. The season was marred by the death of Garth “Jaffa” Roberts, co-driver to Craig Breen, on stage eight of the Targa Florio Rally.
The 2012 European Rally Championship season was the 60th season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season consisted of eleven rallies, beginning with the Internationale Jänner Rallye in Austria on 5 January 2012 and concluding with the Rallye International du Valais on 27 October 2012. After 8 rounds, Finnish driver Juho Hänninen secured the championship, winning four events.
The 2013 European Rally Championship season was the 61st season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season was also the first following the merger between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. French broadcaster Eurosport, which previously organised the IRC, assumed the duties of organising the ERC.
Valentin Porcișteanu is a driver in the Romanian Rally Championship, who won the National Champion title in 2011, four National Runner-Up titles in 2010, 2012, 2018, 2019 and Colin McRae Flat Out Trophy in 2013.
The 2014 World Rally Championship was the 42nd season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and drivers contested thirteen rallies across four continents, competing for the FIA World Rally Championships for Drivers and Manufacturers. The WRC-2, WRC-3 and Junior WRC championships all ran in support of the premier championship.
The Rally Islas Canarias, known originally as the Rally El Corte Inglés is an international rally racing event based on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. The event has been a long running round of the European Rally Championship, the Spanish Rally Championship and the Canary Islands Rally Championship. It has also in the recent past been a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the European Rally Cup South and the European Rally Cup West. The rally is a tarmac rally event and has been since inception.
The Rallye Açores, known originally as the Volta à Ilha de São Miguel is an international rally racing event based on the Portuguese island of São Miguel Island in the Azores.
The 2014 European Rally Championship season was the 62nd season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season was also the second following the merger between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.