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Guido Barcella and Ombretta Ghidotti Win the Winter Marathon
The 35th running of the Winter Marathon was strongly characterised by the snow that fell over two days on 19-22 January, copiously on Thursday evening and persistent in the main leg on Friday on all the traditional Dolomite passes (Gardena and Pordoi in particular), and the extreme cold that reached -12°C on the top of Passo Pordoi.
Dakar Classic
From 29 December to 15 January the Amaury Sport Organisation and the French ASN, (the FFSA) ran the third Dakar Classic alongside the 45th Dakar cross-country rally, in Saudi Arabia for the fourth time. Eighty-eight classics from the bygone days of the event took the start in an overall field of 355 vehicles, which included bikes, quads, cars, trucks and buggies, starting from a new bivouac on the Red Sea coast and heading deep into the Arabian Desert.
Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique
The first edition of the of the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique was run in 1998, and it took place at the same time as the modern WRC rally. Such a huge undertaking caused all sorts of logistical problems for the organisers, so after that the ACM took the decision to separate the two events, and ever since they have run ten days apart.
High Alpine Adventure
This summer’s coupe des Alpes, which will take place on 15-17 June running along a route from Evian, Megève, Alpe D’Huez to Cannes and will feature some of the greatest passes from the period event. Made possible by setting the date slightly later than usual, three of these are more…
71st Rally Motul Costa Brava
The official poster of the 71st Rally Motul Costa Brava, which takes place on 16-19 March in Girona and opens the historic rally season for the European, Spanish and Catalan championships, commemorates the victory of Miki Biasion and Tiziano Siviero in the 1983 edition of the event. Faithful to the…
Tour Auto 32nd Edition
Since the opening of the entries in last November, more than 200 entry requests for the 2023 Tour Auto have been received by the Peter Auto team. The first list of entrants was revealed in December and contains the names of many regular historic racers, such as Michael Birch/Gareth Burnett (Ford GT40), as well as names like Thierry Boutsen and Henri Pescarolo, both driving Shelby Cobras.
HERO Champions
After a tough new route for Le Jog, the final event in the 2022 HERO-ERA championships, Stephen Owens finally won the HERO Cup for drivers, a championship in which he has been runner-up on five previous occasions!
FIA Historic Rally Calendar
The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved the 2023 calendar for the FIA European Historic Rally Championship, which will include nine rounds this year (see the calendar section this issue). In a schedule that will see events in eight different countries, a second gravel rally has been added to…
Changes for the Cento Ore
After much consideration, Luigi Orlandini and his team at Canossa Eventshave decided that the Modena Cento Ore will in future run in the autumn, a cooler time of year than the previous June date and they have announced that it will run this year from 9-14 October.
FIA Historic Regularity Champions Crowned – Ostbelgien Classic 2022
Ultimate proof of the popularity of the Ostbelgien Classic is that even the snow invited itself to the party in Eupen on the first day marked by a short but intense stage, acting as a perfect warm-up for the final of the FIA Trophy for Historic Regularity Rallies, on 2 December. And it was the well-known orange Porsche 911 of Yves Deflandre, fresh from his Ypres Historic victory, this time assisted by Jennifer Hugo, that was the initial leader of the event after the first two tests and a run on the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps.
Ypres Historic Rally
By running the Ypres Historic Rally and Ypres Historic Regularity simultaneously, the organisers have succeeded in turning what could have been a poor substitute into a magnificent end to the season. Jurriaan Tas reports…
Silver Fern Rally of New Zealand 2022
Winner of the St Mary’s Trophy race at the Goodwood Revival, multiple class winner at Rally GB, Brabham and McLaren Formula One team insider, BBC Television’s Formula One pit lane commentator and more, Tony Jardine has an impressively diverse motor sport CV. He has also been a rally driver for over 40 years, competing in 26 WRC RAC rallies.
Tour Auto – Return to the Riviera
With a different route each year, Peter Auto has announced that the 32nd Tour Auto will finish on the French Riviera. After the exhibition of the cars at the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris, crews will hit the road on a 2,000km journey for a finish in Cannes, a popular destination that the Tour Auto, last visited in 2016.
MC Piston – Rally and Picos Tour 2022
Many regular competitors in the classic motorcycle Moto Giro D’Italia (see our Oct 2022) also choose to take part in the MC Piston rally based in Cantabria Spain, this year run on the 18-25 September. It was the 35th anniversary for this pre-1980 bike event which has continued to grow in popularity, now with over 400 entrants and pleased to welcome more women riders this time than ever before.
Internationale St. Moritzer Automobilwoche
The second International St. Moritz Automobile Week, held on September 2-11, built upon the success of last year’s edition. A combination of six independent events, an increasing number of cars gathered in St Moritz to participate in various activities throughout the week.
3rd Sahara Challenge
After 4,500 difficult kilometres the 2022 HERO-ERA Sahara Challenge reached its end on 30 September with the Bentley 3-4½ of Bill Cleyndert victorious again, repeating its 2015 triumph, but this time with daughter Georgia in the navigator’s seat, on her first ever rally. Following the Cleyndert’s home were Swiss couple Pierre Gerber and Alice Leuenberger in their 1946 Ford Coupe with Jorge Perez Companc and Jose Volta from Argentina in a 1938 Chevrolet Coupe taking third.
Tour de Corse Historique
Over the last 22 years the Tour de Corse Historique has become an unmissable event on the European historic rally calendar, and many drivers, some with prestigious CVs, return to its mythical stages each year. If proof be needed, this year Jose Andreani and his team received more than 500 requests for entries, of which only 380 could be accepted. These represented 12 different nationalities, with 196 cars running in the competition category and 169 in regularity.
Modena Cento Ore
With a new date, moved from June, the Modena Cento Ore set out from the Adriatic resort of Milano Marittima on October 3 for the start of four days comprising competition on ten hillclimbs and the circuits of Mugello and Misano. This year, instead of traversing Italy to Liguria, the Cento Ore returned to Milano Marittima for the first two nights, with a stop in Florence on the third day of competition before the traditional finish in Modena.
XXXIV Rallye Elba Storico – Trofeo Locman
This year saw the largest number of entrants for the Rallye Elba Storico ever recorded – to the point that many alterations to the programme were required, including a change in the location of the main parc fermé and re-grouping points and a change in the location of the finish. One hundred and eighty-three crews ran concurrently in the eighth round of the 2022 FIA European Historic Rally Championship and the seventh of eight rounds of the Campionato Italiano Rally Auto Storiche, as well as the A112 Abarth Trophy and the Michelin Historic Rally Cup.
Les Legend Boucles @ Bastogne 2023
Having formalised a Classic 65 category – with mandatory roll bar – instead of the usual Classic 60, the Royal Automobile Club de Spa, organisers of the Legend Boucles @ Bastogne have confirmed the event will be back in its traditional format on 3-5 February 2023 with a highly anticipated return to Place McAuliffe…