Azores Airlines Rallye (J) - 21-23 Mar 19

Champions, winners and ERC Juniors fill exciting Azores Rallye entry list

Posted: March 13, 2019 7:39 AM

The 2019 FIA European Rally Championship is go with the publication of the Azores Rallye entry list* by the event organisers.

Headed by reigning ERC champions Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov, the entry features 21 R5 cars – including examples from Citroën, Ford, Hyundai, ŠKODA and Volkswagen – 18 ERC Juniors, plus national title winners from Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Portugal among others.

ERC Juniors go for gold
Eighteen future stars will chase ERC Junior points on the Azores Rallye with six runners in the R5-based FIA ERC1 Junior Championship and 12 in the FIA ERC3 Junior Championship for R2 cars on Pirelli tyres. Of the 18, eight will line up in the Azores as ERC Junior rookies. They include Alex Tsouloftas from Cyprus, Portugal’s Pedro Almeida, Czech 2WD and Junior champion Jan Talaš, Germany’s Roman Schwedt and Sweden’s Elias Lundberg, who is competing in ERC Junior as his prize for winning the 2018 ADAC Opel Rallye Cup in Germany.

Inter-make R5 battle in store
Volkswagen’s all-new R5 challenger will make its ERC debut with Marijan Griebel – the reigning German champion and double ERC Junior champion – and Norbert Herczig – the four-time Hungarian title winner – competing in the German cars run by Baumschlager Rallye & Racing. Alexey Lukyanuk, exciting Swedish prospect Mattias Adielsson and past Azores winner Bernardo Sousa will have the Citroën C3 R5 at their disposal. Team OSCARO’s Pierre-Louis Loubet, son of 1989 ERC champion Yves, multiple Azorean champion Ricardo Moura, Polish title winner ?ukasz Habaj and 2017 ERC Junior champion Chris Ingram, who will be announcing details of his programme for 2019 in due course, are among 13 ŠKODA Fabia R5-powered drivers set for action. Bruno Magalhães, who has three Portuguese titles and three Azores victories to his name, will fly the Hyundai i20 R5 flag, while ERC Junior newcomer Miguel Correia is starting his second event in a Ford Fiesta R5.

Strong competition expected in ERC2, ERC3
The ERC2 category for production cars is set for a close battle between Juan Carlos Alonso, Luís Pimentel and Sergei Remennik. Peugeot Rally Academy pair Catie Munnings and Yohan Rossel will be in contention for ERC3 honours, as will American Sean Johnston and Dmitriy Myachin from Russia.

ERC Nations’ Cup expands for 2019
ACCR Czech Team, ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team, Sweden National Team, Rally Team Spain and the newly-formed FPAK Portugal Team ERC squad will contest the ERC Nations’ Cup in the Azores.

The Azores Rallye takes place from 21-23 March.

*Subject to FIA approval

Seeded Entry List

Posted: March 13, 2019 7:38 AM

Azores Airlines Rallye (J) - 21-23 Mar 19 - ENTRY LIST

Volcano racing ERC style live on TV and online

Posted: March 7, 2019 4:18 AM

Action from one of international rallying’s most spectacular special stages will be broadcast live when the Azores Rallye opens the 2019 FIA European Rally Championship season next month.

Sete Cidades, which takes crews along the rim of a spectacular volcanic crater lake, is one of four individual stages set for live coverage on RTP Açores, plus live streaming on the official ERC website, FIAERC.com, and social media channels.

Described as one of the greatest spectacles in sport by 2015 Azores Rallye winner and world championship podium finisher Craig Breen, Sete Cidades will be run twice on Friday 22 March with both visits broadcast as they happen and featuring breath-taking helicopter camera footage from the Eurosport Events production team.

However, before viewers will be treated to the stunning Sete Cidades, they can enjoy the battle on the streets of Ponta Delgada, where the City Show – a series of non-competitive demo runs from all crews – takes place on the evening of Wednesday 20 March.

On Thursday 21 March, fans can then watch live the event-opening Coroa da Mata stage before being treated to action from the Marques superspecial, which runs through the amphitheatre of a quarry.

As well as the two visits to Sete Cidades, Friday’s live programming also includes the return to the Marques superspecial.

Live coverage from Tronqueira, which hosts the second stage on Saturday 23 March and the rally’s deciding test that afternoon, will be the focus of leg three’s live output, which concludes with the podium finish in Ponta Delgada in early evening.

Event Website / Details

Posted: January 27, 2019 1:56 PM

Azores Rallye