Route changes for 2011 Rally d'Italia Sardegna

The organisers of the 2011 edition of the Rally d’Italia Sardegna, the Automobile Club d’Italia, have announced some changes to the route of the rally.

Rumours began to circulate recently about a proposed ceremonial start in Rome, the capital city of Italy, but in the last few days suggestions were circulated that the organisers were struggling to put together a plan to get the cars to Rome, then to Sardegna, but in recent days this plan has been scraped altogether.

Another scrapped plan was to run a mixed surface forma, after introducing sections of tarmac during stages last year (2009) to the rally.

A proposed idea that did stick is to base Day 1 more south than usually run. The opening day of the rally will run in the province of Oristano. Day 2 will be run just south of Olbia, near the town of Budduso. SS15/17 and SS16/18 of Day 3 will be run slightly south of Olbia, and the final stage, SS19, is run just north of Olbia.

Another planned idea is to run a ‘Power Stage’. The stage will be televised live on Eurosport TV, the IRC’s TV partner, and an extra three Championship points will be awarded to the fastest crew over the stage.