Sibiu Rally Romania - CANCELLED

No ERC return for Sibiu Rally Romania in 2014

Posted: May 30, 2014 9:37 AM

The 2014 FIA European Rally Championship will be decided over 11 rounds after it was confirmed that Sibiu Rally Romania would no longer form part of the calendar.

Originally scheduled to run as a winter event in February with some stages planned on the iconic Transf?g?r??an highway, the rally was postponed under force majeure due to exceptional heavy snowfall and forecasts of more severe weather around the competitive route leading to fears that safety would be compromised.

Since then, the ERC promoter, Eurosport Events, has worked closely with the Sibiu Rally Romania promoter to try to maintain Romania’s presence in the European Rally Championship with a new all-asphalt event from 9-11 October. However, any new date and format change had to be agreed by Eurosport Events before they could be submitted to the FIA Rally Commission for approval.

Despite a second deadline being put in place, the Sibiu Rally Romania promoter was unable to satisfy criteria set out by Eurosport Events. As such, Eurosport Events informed the FIA Rally Commission at its meeting in Paris on 28 May that the event will no longer be a counting round of the ERC in 2014 with the championship calendar now scheduled to consist of 11 rounds only.

It means that drivers and co-drivers will still count their four best scores from the opening six rounds of the ERC but will now include their best four scores from the final five rallies in their end-of-season totals.

Jean-Bapitste Ley, the ERC Co-ordinator, said:
“Despite hard work behind the scenes with the Romanian authorities, it was impossible for the Sibiu Rally Romania promoter to provide the standards of an ERC round on this new date in October. While this is unfortunate, feedback from our teams is such that a reduced calendar would actually be beneficial for their financial and logistical planning. There are now six very exciting ERC events to come and plenty of Serious Competition Ahead, starting with the 50th anniversary Geko Ypres Rally from 19-21 June.”

ERC Sibiu Rally Romania postponed due to force majeure; alternative format and date now under consideration

Posted: January 29, 2014 9:54 AM

Sibiu Rally Romania will not go ahead as a winter event after its postponement under force majeure due to exceptional heavy snowfall and forecasts of more severe weather around the competitive route leading to fears that safety would be compromised.

The event was scheduled as round three of the FIA European Rally Championship from 27 February-1 March. However, following the completion of an extensive safety and risk analysis report prepared by the event promoter and endorsed by Romania’s ASN, ERC promoter Eurosport Events has agreed to the rally’s cancellation as a winter event. Every effort is now being made to maintain Romania’s presence in the ERC, albeit at a later date and in a different format but still using the famous Transf?g?r??an highway.

With 75 per cent of the special stages in the South Carpathian mountains taking place at an altitude of 1600 metres and the proposed Transf?g?r??an stage peaking at 2400 metres, in light of Romania’s Institute of Meteorology forecasting extremely heavy snowfall in February, it was determined that the safety of competitors, spectators and the general public would be compromised if the rally went ahead as planned. This particularly concerns access roads no longer being passable and the resources of emergency and rescue services becoming overstretched.

The local promoter has now proposed an alternative format and date to Eurosport Events with an all-asphalt route of 220 kilometres – including a stage on part of the Transf?g?r??an highway – from 9-11 October. Providing this proposal meets Eurosport Events’ criteria to ensure a successful round of the ERC, then Eurosport Events will consider potentially submitting the new format and date to the FIA Rally Commission for its approval when it meets on 12 March.

Event Website

Posted: January 9, 2014 11:51 AM

Sibiu Rally (Romania)
European Rally Championship (ERC) - fiaerc.com